Public transport expert and infrastructure consultant Rosli Azad Khan said the government should institute these changes under Budget 2024, which will be tabled at the Dewan Rakyat on Oct 13, given the many benefits it would bring.
When fully implemented, these changes would result in greater efficiency, lower cost and less congestion on the road, he told FMT Business.
A flurry of new projects has led to a year-on-year (y-o-y) growth of 8.1% to RM32.4 billion in the construction sector in the second quarter of 2023 (Q2 2023). These include RM6.5 billion worth of road and rail projects.
While analysts have maintained an “overweight” call on the construction sector, not all has been plain sailing for the country. One issue is rising costs.
The cost of the Bayan Lepas LRT project in Penang has risen by RM10 billion while another RM13 billion from the revised Budget 2023 development expenditure allocation of RM97.3 billion will go towards a national flood mitigation project.
Then there are the Mass Rapid Transit 3 (MRT3), Penang Transport Master Plan, Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) and East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) to contend with.
Rosli has cast doubt on Putrajaya’s ability to fund all these projects with its current financial muscle amid economic headwinds while it has to resolve immediate problems such as the high cost of living, food security and a broken education system.
In the transport sector alone, the government will have to resolve the first and last-mile connectivity problem, over-dependence on subsidised fuel, maintenance and traffic congestion.
Rosli believes the government must shift away from traditional populist approaches that squander resources on infrastructure that is not needed.
“Mega infrastructures have become less fruitful economically, socially and politically, not to mention the billions they cost the taxpayer,” he said.
For instance, he said, the MRT3 and HSR projects would instantly become redundant given that the MRT1 and MRT2 have yet to fully fulfil their intended purposes. “They are transporting less than half of their projected passenger load.”
Rosli said the focus of such projects had typically been concentrated in the Klang Valley, thus neglecting the needs of other regions.
Many parts of the country trail in terms of social and public amenities, including the lack of clean water, rundown schools, insufficient healthcare and poor public transport,” he said.
He said that by focusing on improving rural transport systems, the government could help to reduce migration to the cities in search of better social amenities.
Administrative revamp
Rosli said the government should also look into restructuring several ministries.
He said the finance ministry is overly inflated with many agencies in transport such as MRT Corp, Prasarana, MR Link (ECRL) and KTMB, with no expertise to manage these corporate giants.
Meanwhile, the Railway Assets Corporation and the Land Public Transport Agency (APAD) in the transport ministry have failed to ensure better rail services.
As a result, he said, operating expenditure has risen at the expense of development expenditure.
Rosli said the lack of a single authority to take on the planning role in public transport has made it difficult to come up with comprehensive solutions.
“For instance, Prasarana, MRT Corp or KTMB make plans only for their respective domains but fail to look at how passengers travelling on other lines can gain access to their stations,” he said.
Such failures have led to an inefficient public transport system for which Malaysians are paying a high price in the form of fuel subsidies, sizeable accumulated public debt and a high level of household debt in the form of car loans.
This year alone, the fuel subsidy is expected to reach RM80 billion, the highest so far, up from RM66.3 billion last year.
Rosli said policy reforms to promote more sustainable modes of transport are essential to help Malaysia break away from its car-dependent urban structure.
He said integrated multi-modal and non-motorised transport systems could ensure seamless connections among various modes of transport.
“For instance, we must ensure that bus routes are linked with train stations and there are pedestrian walkways and bicycle lanes. This will encourage people to walk or cycle rather than drive,” he said.
He said more urban expressways would only make things worse.
Rosli also proposed that fuel subsidies be gradually replaced by a more dynamic tax system and congestion pricing be introduced, parking fees be raised and fewer parking spaces be made available to discourage unnecessary driving.