Traffic congestion costs Malaysia RM20 billion yearly, with losses potentially exceeding RM100 billion in five years without major intervention, a study reveals.
FORMER minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Dr Zaliha Mustafa previously stated that a 2020 study by Prasarana Malaysia Berhad revealed that the country incurred losses amounting to RM20 billion annually due to traffic congestion. If no significant actions are taken moving forward, the economic loss could exceed RM100 billion in five years.
Apart from this, Malaysia has one of the highest car ownership rates in Asia. Back in May 2025, the deputy prime minister I disclosed that the number of registered vehicles reached 38.7 million, surpassing our 34.1 million population. This sharp increase was partly driven by a record-breaking total industry volume of new vehicle sales.
At that point, our public transport usage accounted for only around 25%, compared with Singapore (67%), Tokyo (73%) and Seoul (63%). At this rate, given Malaysia’s population is projected to reach 46 million by 2070, traffic congestion is only going to get much worse.
Another important consideration is the targeting of 45 million tourist arrivals this year in line with Visit Malaysia 2026. This is incredibly significant given that tourism is a major source of economic revenue. However, such an influx will surely worsen the already terrible daily traffic congestion, especially in places like the Klang Valley and Penang. This in turn will greatly sour tourists’ experience. Is this the type of impression we want to leave?
This whole situation isn’t at all sustainable. The only way to truly remedy this long-standing problem is having the strong political will to allocate a lot more funds towards significantly strengthening the public bus system now. This will encourage much higher bus ridership, thereby reducing the severe traffic congestion.
Instead of spending more government funds and energy towards temporary, short-term fixes like building more highways, flyovers and ring roads, implementing smart lanes, limited toll discount periods and travel time advisories, our leaders must seriously look at long-term and comprehensive strategies. In this case, public buses, namely hydrogen-powered ones, are undeniably the most effective solution.
While I’m aware that budget constraints remain a huge obstacle, I strongly urge the government to allocate more funds towards strengthening the public bus system. This will solve the severe congestion problem sooner, thus preventing further loss of billions of ringgit annually moving forward. Plus, all the required infrastructure work and future maintenance of all the new buses will create job opportunities for many Malaysians.
Once a lot more public buses are rolled out onto the roads, apart from increasing parking charges, a new tax should be strictly imposed on purchasing cars to discourage more private car ownership and usage. This will encourage more Malaysians to switch to public buses as their main mode of transport.
The government must have the will to effectively resolve this worsening problem.
Raveen Jeyakumar
Ipoh
