The significance of cities as highly productive centres of increasingly service-oriented economy is growing. Transport networks must be able to support the economic growth, growing populations and diverse expectations of urban activity (including tourism). There is clear global evidence that an efficient transport system is an important enabler for economic sustainability.

Congestion is not only a major pain point for commuters; it also causes massive losses in productivity and affects our cities to competitive globally. In alleviating congestion problems, there is a tendency for cities to simply build more roads. However, it would be increasingly expensive (in financial, social and environmental terms) to change road networks once the city fabric is established.

Hence, there is a need to shift from emphasising the movement of motorised vehicles, to the movement of masses in an efficient and cost-effective manner - a shift from private vehicles to public transport. However, taking the Klang Valley public transport system as an example, our public transport system is currently unreliable (with frequent delays and cancellations), has limited accessibility and connectivity between the different public transport modes, and suffers from excessive crowding (especially our main rail lines- KTM Komuter, Kelana Jaya line LRT). These problems, among others, are causing people to shy away from public transport, which in turn leads to more congestion in our cities. 

If we fail to address the problems of the public transport system in the Klang Valley, the roads of our cities will be choked, affecting the productivity of our core city centres, the quality of life of our urban public, and our ability to elevate Malaysian cities to global standards. With this in mind, and keeping in mind the fact that transportation is the fundamental means of access to jobs, healthcare, education and social services, we are committed to improving the standards of the public transport system in the Klang Valley by the year 2012 in order to have the modal shift from private vehicles to public transportation.

• Monitor and lead coordination efforts to deliver and implement initiatives to improve the urban public transport system;
• Prepare progress reports and status updates of each initiative in 5 days for the purpose of weekly submission to the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (PEMANDU), Prime Minister’s Department;
• List and report barriers and stumbling blocks in implementing the outlined initiatives to PEMANDU once every 2 weeks, through a Problem-solving Meeting chaired by the Chief Executive Officer of PEMANDU;
• List and report barriers and stumbling blocks in implementing the outlined initiatives to PEMANDU once every 2 weeks, through a Problem-solving Meeting chaired by the Chief Executive Officer of PEMANDU;
• Provide information with regards to the implementation status of the initiatives within 2 working days of receiving a request to do as such; and
• Ensure that all issues and complaints are properly and promptly addressed within 3 working days.

• Monitoring and leading coordination efforts to deliver and implement initiatives that is key to the improvement of the urban public transport system.