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OK, I know Chinese New Year is not officially over yet, but I would like to share my thoughts here…
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This year, Chinese New Year fell on Feb 3. I returned to my hometown for the celebration on Feb 1, and returned to Selangor on Feb 7. As Feb 7 was Monday, I expected the traffic to be smooth, but I was wrong. There was gridlock on many stretches of the highway.
On Feb 5 (Saturday), my cousin traveled from Taiping to Kuala Kangsar. The trip took 2 hours, toll-to-toll. On normal days, it should take no more than 20 minutes.
It looks like Malaysian roads are getting more congested every year…
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I have been thinking: what can be done to tackle traffic gridlock during festive seasons?
The obvious way is to widen the North-South Highway. But given its environmental impacts, and the fact that oil price is rising, I would favor shift of focus to public transportation. The good news is that the government is planning to build high speed rail (HSR) linking the major cities on the West coast of Peninsula Malaysia.
Still, we need a car to visit our relatives and friends during festive seasons. So if we take HSR from say, Kuala Lumpur to Penang, we will want to rent a car on the island. Now I hope car rental agencies such as Hertz would seize on this opportunity to provide the service.
first of all, that photo of the lamps looks very familiar.. it wasn't taken during the CNY but some time ago right?? :p
ReplyDeletewell, i think there are many people who still take off days after the CNY weekend, maybe that explains why your caught in the congested traffic when you went back on Monday??
ReplyDeletehmmm, perhaps it has become very unpredictable for people travelling during the CNY period.. some try to beat the crowd, but ended up that's what majority does.. perhaps the least expected smoothness would be the day you expect to be congested, haha!!
ReplyDeletethank god, i don't have a hometown elsewhere to go back during festive seasons, so i can really enjoy the quietness of KL~~ :p
ReplyDelete唔止拜一，拜二都好塞车呢！
ReplyDelete大日子塞车，正常咯！
My God 20min stretched to 2 hours..that's the heartsick and headache to travel during festive season.
ReplyDeletei just hate traffic congestion!
ReplyDeleteyalor, why so jam ah ?
ReplyDeletemy colleague leave Kedah at 10am arrived in PJ at 7pm.... she said can reach SG liao XD
SK
ReplyDeleteI had shot pictures of oil lamps before. This one was taken last last week.
christine
拜二都塞？咁勁？
bananaz, wenn
There is little we can do with such situations.
迷迭香
Fortunately my hometown in Perak :D
The best place to be during the CNY period is KL :) Traffic free roads make driving a breeze.
ReplyDeleteHeard about heavy traffic even during the 1st day of CNY. Seemed like people are still travelling on that day instead of already in their hometowns.
my cuz's friend travelled from alor setar to kl - a freaking 12 hrs! normally it only takes 4 hrs plus.
ReplyDeleteKL people are getting richer it seems :) Hope you enjoy your CNY holiday!
ReplyDeleteBelated 新年快乐！
ReplyDeleteThe traffic in Malaysia surprised us. China still doesn't have so many cars and most people use public transportation, so it was my first time in a congested Asian city. Kuala Lumpur was crazy for instance.
Funny thing is, public transportation is Malaysia is quite efficient. We took the train and it was a great journey. Obviously, it's easier to have a car in Penang because the bus is slow, but again, it's mostly slow because of the traffic.
Mei Teng, kyh, VanillaSeven, Zhu
ReplyDeleteThanks!
The HSR would be a dream come true when completed. It will take me only 3 hours from Johor to Penang with 300 km/hr speed.
ReplyDeleteLike this photo...
Thank God I dun have to balik kampung during CNY. My kampung is in PJ and driving in PJ and KL during CNY was like in heaven! LOL!
ReplyDeleteNice photo of the oil lamps! : )
ReplyDeleteAnother Smart post from you Admin :)
ReplyDelete