Commentary: Malaysia won’t be able to solve its traffic woes without better bus networks

SINGAPORE: Malaysia is making big moves in public transportation with two major projects - Penang’s first light rail transit (LRT) system and the much talked-about Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link.

These long-awaited projects are aimed at easing the heavy congestion and private car usage on Penang Island and on the causeway between Johor Bahru and Woodlands. But these cities will enjoy far greater benefits from these projects if extensive bus networks are developed in tandem, as bus routes can complement these rail services, and together, form a more viable alternative to private car use.

Cities like Singapore and Hong Kong have already developed comprehensive bus networks alongside their rail networks. 

Singapore’s 242km MRT network had an average daily ridership of 3.41 million trips in 2024. Meanwhile, its bus network of more than 350 routes, serviced by more than 5,800 buses, allowed for 3.84 million trips a day on average.

Similarly, Hong Kong’s Mass Transit Railway network of about 271km had an average daily ridership of 4.6 million in 2023. Hong Kong’s bus network is expansive, consisting of over 700 routes, operated by close to 6,000 regular buses and over 4,000 minibuses. This enabled over 5 million bus trips a day on average in 2023. 

MALAYSIA’S MOST CONGESTED CITY

In January, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim officially launched construction of Penang’s Mutiara LRT Line. This nearly 30km line, with 21 stations, is expected to begin service in December 2031.

Penang is a car-centric city with a well-developed road network but is paralysed by congestion. The annual TomTom traffic index ranked Penang’s capital, George Town, the most congested city in Malaysia in 2024, with an average driving time of 27 minutes per 10km, equivalent to a speed of about 22 kmh.

Its existing bus network of 47 routes, served by a fleet of about 350 buses, is insufficient for the island’s needs. Land constraints limit the extent to which Penang can add road space to alleviate congestion, not to mention the fact that adding roads does not commensurately reduce congestion since it also encourages more driving by new and existing drivers.

Traffic congestion has been known to cause delays at bus stations and terminals, affecting bus arrival times. In November 2024, Penang rolled out a six-month pilot to trial bus lanes in the inner city to improve public transport efficiency.

Until the LRT line opens, the most effective strategy Penang can employ to reduce congestion is to move more commuters from cars into buses, especially during rush hour.

Ramping up bus services now will not only reduce present congestion, it will also lay the groundwork for a wider catchment area of transit users when the LRT line opens. Since Penang is a medium-density city, buses will provide crucial first-and-last mile connections for many from LRT stations when the system opens.

In Singapore, 44.5 per cent of public transport journeys to work in 2020 involved a combination of both bus and train segments. Given Penang’s lower population density and smaller rail network, buses will be even more important for commuters to complete trips fully by public transport. Without a large complementary bus network, public transit will be a much less viable transport mode for private car users, making the LRT’s 10.5 billion ringgit (US$2.4 billion) price tag harder to justify.

JOHOR GRIDLOCK

Further south, Malaysia and Singapore’s rail link is expected to open by the end of 2026, with the ability to transport up to 10,000 commuters per hour in each direction. The 4km line will have two stations, connecting Woodlands North in Singapore to Bukit Chagar in the heart of Johor Bahru.

Upon opening, ridership is expected to reach about 40,000 passengers per day, increasing to 150,000 daily after three years - roughly half the number of people who currently cross the border each day. There is a need for a mechanism to disperse these commuters from the station to other parts of the city. If this task is left to private vehicles, the city will face severe gridlock.

Compounding the congestion concerns, Malaysia is also building a RM2.6 billion mixed-use development - including a retail mall, hotel and apartments - adjacent to the future RTS Link station in Bukit Chagar. Analysts expect even more developments to be built in densely populated areas such as Mount Austin and Tebrau in the years to come, which will likely add further strain to the city's infrastructure.

To address long-term transit needs, the state government recently announced that it will develop an elevated system of bus-trams called autonomous rail rapid transit (ART).

While a bus-tram network takes a shorter time to build than an alternative LRT system, this ART system will only be completed well after the RTS system is in operation. This is because of the need to build separate viaducts and bridges. In addition, ART systems are characterised by sensors that enable ART vehicles to follow a virtual track of markings on the road. Installation and testing of such systems will take time.  

Until the ART system is completed, bus services must operate to disperse commuters from Bukit Chagar. Not only can buses be procured quickly, Johor Bahru is also a car-centric city with an existing vast network of roads and highways that buses can readily utilise.

An added benefit of buses is that they can more effectively provide first-and-last mile connectivity from Bukit Chagar station to less dense and distant neighbourhoods than fixed rail systems. Even after the ART system is built, buses will remain a core part of the public transport network in this regard.  

However, simply expanding the network is not enough; improving bus operations and infrastructure is equally critical. In addition to increasing the number of routes, buses must operate with regular frequency. Commuters often have less confidence in bus reliability than trains and trams, since buses operate on the same roads as cars and are thus susceptible to congestion. Bus priority lanes can mitigate this problem.

In addition, bus services in Malaysia do not have a reputation of being well-managed. Vehicles are often old and uncomfortable, and bus drivers do not always follow the prescribed routes or schedules.

Addressing this requires investment in new buses, better fleet maintenance to minimise breakdowns, and enhanced driver training and monitoring to ensure consistent arrival times. Bus routes, schedules and real-time arrival times should be made available at bus stops and on phone applications.

When bus networks are sufficiently expansive and reliable, public transit will be a more competitive alternative to private vehicles. This will place these cities in a better position to introduce congestion pricing to further incentivise public transit ridership and reduce travel times.

Competition can play an important role in improving service quality. This can happen by making the development of extensive bus networks a centrepiece of Malaysia’s public transport policy, extending beyond Penang and Johor to other major cities like Kota Bahru, Ipoh and Seremban, all of which are now also served by sparse networks where service is infrequent and unreliable.

By creating a larger market for urban bus services, there will be room for multiple operators to compete for routes, thus incentivising them to enhance service standards. A larger, more competitive bus industry would also enable operators to benefit from economies of scale and learning-by-doing across the various markets in which they operate. 

Timothy Wong is senior lecturer in the Department of Economics at the National University of Singapore.