PETALING JAYA (June 5): The percentage of public transport usage in Malaysia has only reached 20% to date, said Transport Minister Anthony Loke.

He said the figure remains below the 40% target outlined in the National Transport Policy 2019–2030.

“The national transport policy from 2019 to 2030 is already in place. So, our challenge is how to ensure that this policy is realised according to its intended goals,” he said when met after the Ilmuwan Malaysia Madani Siri 6 forum at Menara Prasarana here on Wednesday.

The forum discussed the topic “Transportation for the People: Balancing Affordability, Quality and Sustainability of Public Transport”, chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

In addition to Loke, other panel members were president and group chief executive officer of Prasarana Malaysia Bhd, Mohd Azharuddin Mat Sah, and Universiti Putra Malaysia Vice-Chancellor Datuk Prof Dr Ahmad Farhan Mohd Sadullah.

Commenting further, Loke said the implementation of the ‘Road to Rail’ initiative is currently being carried out in phases and is expected to have a significant impact on the country’s logistics sector.

“We are actively promoting the use of rail. That’s why one of our focus initiatives is ‘Road to Rail’, to encourage more usage of railways for the transportation of containers and goods,” he said.

“When the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project is completed, it will boost the use of rail to transport goods and containers to the East Coast, thereby reducing reliance on road transport such as lorries,” he added.

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