Johor Bahru congestion as RTS deadline looms

JOHOR BAHRU – During a rainy spell last December, two men who work in the shipping industry left their workplace at the Tanjung Pelepas Port in Johor’s Iskandar Puteri to head for different destinations, one of which was more than five times farther away.

Oddly, the one who went farther reached his destination first.

Mr Wilson Lee drove some 280km north to Kuala Lumpur and reached the capital in four hours. By that same time, his colleague Azhari Sirat had yet to reach his home in Pasir Gudang, merely 50km away from the port.

“The traffic congestion in Johor Bahru was so bad, I reached KL faster than he reached his home,” Mr Lee said, referring to Mr Azhari. Both men laughed about it when they spoke to The Straits Times.

For many Johoreans, traffic gridlock has become part of daily life.

The situation is expected to worsen when the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link begins operations in 2027 without a supporting dispersal system of better roads and public transport ready in time, as commuters will still have to rely on e-hailing or personal cars for transfer from the station.

At a youth engagement session on May 22 in Iskandar Puteri, Johor Menteri Besar Onn Hafiz admitted “we expect that traffic jams will get worse”, especially with the RTS.

“With regard to long-term plans… we have learnt that a letter of intent has been recently issued for an elevated autonomous rapid transit (ART). It is more of a long-term solution, but even so, we expect it only to be ready earliest in 2030.”

The rail link between JB and Singapore is expected to carry up to 10,000 passengers an hour during peak periods.

Professor Muhammad Zaly Shah of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia said the ART system still being under discussion while the RTS nears completion reflects “a sequencing failure”.

“An intra-city transit system should be in advanced planning before the anchor cross-border link opens,” he said.

Mr Lee rents a flat in Forest City, near the port, and typically avoids any commute into JB.

Mr Azhari has no such option but his journey between work and home ought to take just 40 minutes. “Traffic around JB is crazy. On average, it takes me two hours each way to and from work. That is four hours each day,” he said.

In February, Johor executive councillor for transport and public works Fazli Mohamad Salleh told local media that JB could face “several years” of congestion due to delays in approval by the federal government for a bus or tram network linked to the RTS.

The Johor Regent, Tunku Ismail Idris, had in November 2025 raised concerns over the state’s worsening traffic. The Crown Prince also urged the federal government in late April to support a rail transit system project in JB to provide connectivity with the RTS and reduce traffic congestion.

On May 17, Transport Minister Anthony Loke announced that the federal government had approved the RM10 billion (S$3.2 billion) ART project, but the timeline for its implementation remains unclear.

Meanwhile, rapid development, heavy car dependency and cross-border traffic continue to pile pressure on roads struggling to keep pace with the city’s growth.

During peak hours, about 300,000 vehicles enter and exit JB from surrounding areas, including Singapore, according to statistics from the local council’s Integrated Operations Control Centre.

Dr Choo Kok Wah, commander of the control centre, told ST that the city’s roads are simply overwhelmed by the number of vehicles.

Studies by the JB City Council’s urban transport division show that the city’s worst-hit roads are Jalan Tebrau, Jalan Skudai, Jalan Tun Abdul Razak and the Pasir Gudang Highway. Together, these roads are key arteries linking residential suburbs, industrial areas and the city centre.

“It is like fire – it burns when there is fuel and oxygen. We have traffic jams because there are too many cars and too few roads,” he said, adding that AI-enabled traffic lights can only do so much to ease congestion.

The Singapore factor also plays a major role. Thousands of Malaysians working in Singapore park their vehicles across JB daily, while Causeway traffic regularly spills onto surrounding roads. Weekend traffic from Singapore visitors adds further strain.

For logistics supervisor Derek Tan, the daily commute between his home and workplace has become exhausting.

He drives from Permas Jaya to Senai each day, a journey that should take about 30 minutes on clear roads but can stretch to two hours during peak periods.

“It has been like this for more than a decade,” he said. “We complain about it and hope it gets better, but traffic is horrible all year round, and we just live with it.”

In residential suburbs such as Pulai in Iskandar Puteri, poor road planning and faulty traffic lights have earned the area the nickname “Pulai Darul Jem” – or the abode of traffic jams.

The issue went viral online in late April when images posted on social media showed snaking queues of cars stretching several kilometres from Pulai to the Gelang Patah exit of the Second Link highway, prompting state officials to deploy temporary traffic management measures.

“When the state is developing faster, please don’t forget one thing, improve our main roads!” said Facebook user and JB resident Reza Reazal.

“For years, there have been no improvements to our roads. We frequently face traffic light problems and damaged roads.”

Public transport operators are equally frustrated.

At JB Sentral, bus drivers say congestion around Jalan Jim Quee near the Customs complex can turn a short stretch into a 30-minute crawl as motorists stop by the road to wait for family members arriving from Singapore.

“Usually, the trip takes about 1½ hours, but because of the jam here, it can take more than two hours,” said bus driver Muhammad, who operates the BAS.MY route from JB Sentral to Masai.

“When the trip takes too long, you can see it in their eyes – passengers are getting frustrated.”

Businesses are affected by the traffic congestion too. Mr Wong Zi Xian, who works at a traditional Chinese medicine shop in Taman Ungku Tun Aminah in Skudai, said customers often give up after circling repeatedly for parking spaces. The area is used as a pickup point for chartered buses transporting workers to Singapore.

“Customers drive around three or four times looking for parking before deciding it is not worth it,” he said.

Madam Zarita Zainal, who runs a stall at a foodcourt located beside the Tebrau Highway, is among the rare business owners who feel that the traffic jam is good news. She said peak-hour congestion sometimes brings in more customers.

“People stop to eat dinner or breakfast first and wait for the traffic to ease,” she said.

Transport consultancy MY Mobility Vision founder Wan Agyl Wan Hassan warned that without stronger feeder transport, congestion could simply shift from the Causeway deeper into JB itself.

“If the city does not have strong feeder transport, many will still rely on cars, e-hailing or motorcycles to continue their journey. That is why the concerns about future congestion is real,” said Mr Wan Agyl.

“The traffic may not stay at the border any more – it could shift into the city itself.”