GEORGE TOWN: Malaysia must seriously study road congestion charges such as those adopted by Singapore in the effort to tackle traffic snarl-ups in the country.
Malaysian Association of Highway Concession Companies (MAHCC) president Datuk Azman Ismail said that the industry must explore the road charges imposition system which was seen as able to control road congestion in terms of trigger points, system, information flow and offloading of congestion levy to change the behaviour of motorists.
“We should learn from Singapore on their road pricing mechanism to regulate road congestion in terms of trigger points, system, information flow, and imposition of congestion levy to change driving behaviour.
“This will promote the use of alternative modes of public transport among the public. We should learn (them) for adoption in Malaysia’s major cities,” he said when met by Bernama at the end of the 2019 Highway Concession Conference here.
He said that the new management had introduced several changes by using technology and implementing digital technology to tackle challenges and obstacles which existed all this while to get a better situation at Plus Malaysia Berhad (Plus).
‘’The initiatives will boost the safety of the highway users and personnel productivity which can directly reduce cost,’’ he said.
Azman, who is also Plus chairman, said that this was among the issues which could be scrutinised and it was obtained through the sharing of innovative ideas which could be utilised through the conference, which was attended by 300 local and foreign participants.
The conference was organised by the Works Ministry and the Malaysian Highway Authority (MHA) with the co-operation of MAHCC.
He said that MAHCC would study the system and submit it to the government for consideration.
