The Sun: The high cost of traffic congestion

Hah! A rant that ended up as a column!

So who among you love KL / PJ / Klang Valley traffic?

Comedian Steven Wright once said: “They say the universe is expanding. That should help with the traffic.” Sitting in traffic this past month, I can’t help but hope with seriousness that what he says really will be true.

While I thought I was being over-dramatic about traffic jams in the Klang Valley, I realise my frustration is justified. According to the Malaysian Economic Monitor residents of greater Kuala Lumpur spend more than 250 million hours a year stuck in traffic. To put that in perspective, there are only about 8,766 hours in a year.

Carlist.my, discussing the Malaysian Economic Monitor report, stated that rapid urbanisation in city areas was a key driver for this, stating that 51% of the population lived in cities as of 1985, whereas now that metric has leaped to 75%.

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