The consultant, Rosli Azad Khan, says the money collected from these “single occupancy vehicles” could be channelled to improve public transport.

According to a study by the Centre for Governance and Political Studies, more than 87% of Malaysians working in the central business district of Kuala Lumpur drove alone to work. This resulted in the massive traffic congestion in prime areas of the city.

The centre suggested that toll rates should be maintained and petrol subsidies ended, so that more people would be inclined to travelling by public transport and using car pools.

Rosli agrees to the suggestions. “In fact, the government should introduce double or triple toll charges for Single Occupancy Vehicles (SOVs) and channel these charges to improve public transport,” he said.

He called for action to overcome the lack of accessibility and connectivity and long journey times associated with public transport.

Malaysia lagged behind other Asian countries such as Singapore and Japan in the use of public transport.

Past studies showed 15-18% used public transport, against 82-85% for private transport. “As a comparison, Singapore has one of the highest number of public transport users, with almost 70% of people using public transport and 30% private. Tokyo has about 65% to 35% and London 62% to 38%,” Rosli said

Rosli said the public transport services should be made more affordable, especially for those who opt to use park and ride facilities.

“Park and ride should be encouraged and those who use public transport should be charged with lower parking fees at public transport stations,” he said..

Malaysian Consumer Movement president Darshan Singh Dhillon agrees.

“The government must continuously improve public transport infrastructure to cover more areas and to get people to use public transport. We live in a tropical climate and it can become very hot in the afternoon to walk to their destinations,” he said.

As for carpooling, Darshan notes that it is inconvenient for some because of different working and family arrangements, hence why not many are keen on the idea.

“Some may work late hours and some may have different family commitments, therefore driving own vehicles suits their convenience,”

“I personally prefer to use public transport when attending meetings in the city, but I have to use my own vehicle when traveling to work as there’s no public transport service,” he said, noting that he works at Kepong where KTM’s connectivity is currently hindered and MRT is still under construction.