Transport minister, Anthony Loke made this statement at Dewan Negara
So the number of registered vehicles in Malaysia has apparently exceeded the country’s population. Transport Minister Anthony Loke told the Dewan Negara today that there were currently more than 36.3 million registered vehicles in Malaysia as of October this year. Malaysia’s population as of last year was 32.4 million.
Moreover, Loke said cars made up the highest number of registered vehicles at 17,244,978, followed by motorcycles at 16,773,112 and vehicles to transport goods at 1,429,403. There are also a total of 84,745 taxis, 64,021 buses and 30,318 rental cars, while 736,410 other vehicles did not fit in any of the categories.
Of the total, 23,822,322 of them still have active motor vehicle licenses or road taxes, while 12,540,664 other vehicles are inactive without any road tax, he said. Well, honestly I don’t see the issue here. Some Malaysians have multiple cars while others can’t even own one, this is the goal of capitalism, after all. So why is this news?
When asked a question from a question from Senator Datuk Koh Nai Kwong, Loke simply stated, “The Transport Ministry is carrying out several initiatives to encourage the use of public transportation such as the My50 unlimited monthly pass through Prasarana and free travel pass for people with disabilities and school students for KTM Komuter.”
“In a few years, the rail network in the Klang Valley will be further widened.” He concluded. So how come all these “initiatives” are not yielding any results? Oh wait. I remember now, its because the public transport in Malaysia never works. Half the time its late, the other half it breaks down. So why would anyone use it at all?
Loke said the Putrajaya Mass Rapid Transit line or MRT2 project had started operations on 16 March 2023, while the government was reviewing the proposed MRT3 project which covers a 51km rail network in the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur and Ampang Jaya. I bet those rails will also only work 1 in 10 times.
On top of that, he said the proposed rail alignment, which would see the construction of 10 interchange stations, will be connected to the existing rail services including MRT1, MRT2, light rail transit (LRT), Monorail and KTM Komuter. He also said that the ministry was also carrying out a strategic partnership with local authorities and other stakeholders to facilitate the use of micro mobility vehicles.
Well, I honestly think the Government could actually upgrade existing public transport so it either works properly or invest in buying its staff wristwatches so they might finally be on time more often for a change. Plus, why do “maintenance” during operation hours instead of after considering the trains don’t run 24 hours? Perhaps simple common sense solutions would be better here than empty promises.
We got all this from NST and their full article is linked here. Thank you NST for the information and images.
