Resolving JB city’s bad traffic jams

THE traffic situation within and around Johor Baru city has become worse due to ongoing development and upgrading projects.

General assistant Ahmad Arif, 38, works in Menara Ansar along Jalan Trus where work to widen the pedestrian sidewalks is being carried out by the Johor Baru City Council (MBKB).

“This causes roads around the area to become narrow, resulting in traffic moving at snail’s pace,” he told StarMetro.

Ahmad said the congestion was made worse with the closure of some roads for on-going development projects.

A huge traffic snarl along Jalan Abdullah Ibrahim in Johor Baru city centre.

“Some irresponsible drivers will double park along an already congested road. Despite enforcement action, the problem does not go away,” said Ahmad.

He added that it was inconvenient commuting to and from the city centre.

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“It used to take me about 20 to 25 minutes to travel from my workplace to my home in Bandar Baru Uda. Now, I need 15 minutes just to leave the city centre,” he said.

Businessman D. Ravindran, 60, said proper planning was needed to help address traffic jams in major locations.

High volume of traffic moving along Jalan Tebrau in Johor Baru. — Photos: THOMAS YONG/The Star

“I see that the traffic situation is getting worse with no proper solution in sight.

“This is because the authorities did not plan ahead before allowing development projects.

“It used to take me about 10 to 15 minutes to get from Taman Perling to the city, but now I need 25 minutes, and if it rains or an accident occurs, then I’d be stuck for a longer time,” he added.Ravindran: Long-time residents have to share roads with newcomers.

Ravindran said the population in Johor Baru was growing and new property projects were springing up near mature housing estates.

“Long-time residents have to share the roads with the newcomers. There should be another access or new route,” he added.

Tuition teacher Goh Teck Kuan, 53, said with traffic conditions getting bad, he hardly goes to the city, especially on weekends when Singaporeans visit Johor Baru malls.

“There are just too many vehicles on the roads. Public transport here including the bus service should be enhanced.

“Nowadays, people prefer using ehailing services as they want to reach their destination faster.

“Having a light rail transit (LRT) system in and around Johor Baru will directly help ease congestion,” he added.

State taking measures

The Johor government is looking at several plans to help ease traffic congestion around Johor Baru.

The BRT being tested near Iskandar Puteri in 2022.

State works, transportation and infrastructure committee chairman Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh said among the short-term measures were enhancing the public bus network through park and ride initiatives.

“The people can park at locations outside the city limits where there will be buses to bring them into the city centre. We are currently discussing with bus operators on increasing the number of buses,” he told StarMetro.To ensure smooth travels, Mohamad Fazli said special lanes would be designated for the buses.

Long-term measures, he added, would be implementing the light rail transit (LRT) and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems.

Mohamad Fazli said the BRT project would cover 2,051km of routes and have three main lines at Skudai, Tebrau and Iskandar Puteri.

“However, we are still finalising the routes as some of the locations need to expand the road lanes to fit in the BRT.”

The Johor government is offering park-and-ride incentives to encourage the public to make full use of bus transport.

Mohamad Fazli added that data showed an average 7,433 local-registered and 3,744 Singapore-registered vehicles would enter the city area per hour.

As for the LRT option, he said the state government had received several construction proposals from the private sector and was currently evaluating their feasibility before forwarding them to the Federal Government.Upgrading works along Jalan Trus have narrowed the road causing traffic to move at snail’s pace.

He added that several factors to be assessed included cost, route alignment and locations of stations and depots.

Johor has identified three LRT lines that stretch for 30km in and around Johor Baru.

The Tebrau, Skudai and Iskandar Puteri lines will stretch until the Senai International Airport in Kulai.

“In addition to the LRT and BRT public transport proposals for the city, the state government supports the Rapid Transit System Link (RTS) and Gemas — Johor Baru Electrified Double Track Project (EDTP) projects that are currently under development.

“However, the connectivity of all public transport modes needs to be coordinated carefully to ensure the system is efficient.

“With the availability of more public transport options, it is expected that the number of passengers will increase,” he said.

During the tabling of the state Budget 2024 in November last year, Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi said the state wanted the High Speed Rail (HSR) project between Malaysia and Singapore to be revived soon to further elevate the state’s economic position in the region.