KULAI: Caretaker Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi has urged Putrajaya to speed up implementation of the Elevated Autonomous Rapid Transit (E-ART) project.<\/p>\n
He said it is the key long-term solution to easing traffic congestion in Johor Baru once the Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link begins operations.<\/p>\n
He said the short- and medium-term measures being undertaken, including expanding park and ride facilities, implementing smart traffic management systems and reorganising the movement of buses, taxis and e-hailing vehicles at JB Sentral, were only temporary solutions.<\/p>\n
“These measures are necessary because the main project capable of dispersing traffic from the RTS has yet to begin.<\/p>\n
“Therefore, there is one project that we must continue to focus on and expedite, namely the E-ART project,\u201d he said during the launch of the Southern Shuttle train service operations at Kulai Railway Station here on Tuesday (June 16).<\/p>\n
Also present was Transport Minister Anthony Loke.<\/p>\n
ALSO READ<\/strong>: Cabinet approves RM10bil E-ART project to ease Johor Baru traffic<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n Onn Hafiz added that the E-ART project had already been presented at a Cabinet meeting in 2024, but physical works have yet to begin.<\/p>\n He said Johoreans were waiting for a clear timeline, particularly as to when construction would begin.<\/p>\n “The question now is when this project will start. The people of Johor want to know when we can conduct a site visit together for this project.<\/p>\n “As far as I understand, the letter of award has yet to be issued, and even after works begin, the project is expected to take between four and five years to complete,” he said.<\/p>\n He stressed that the need to accelerate the project was becoming increasingly urgent as the RTS Link connecting Bukit Chagar and Woodlands North is scheduled to begin operations in early 2027.<\/p>\n Without an efficient and high-capacity urban public transport system, he warned, the increase in passenger volume could put greater strain on Johor Baru\u2019s road network.<\/p>\n Drawing a comparison with Penang\u2019s Mutiara Line Light Rail Transit (LRT) project, which has a budget ceiling of RM16.8bil with physical works already ongoing, Onn Hafiz said Johor hoped to receive similar attention and priority from the Federal Government.<\/p>\n He noted that Johor Baru alone has a population of about 1.8 million, almost equivalent to the entire population of Penang, while also serving as one of the country\u2019s busiest international gateways.<\/p>\n He said E-ART was more than just a development initiative, describing it as a crucial federal intervention that would directly improve daily mobility, reduce congestion and strengthen connectivity between the RTS Link and key areas in Johor Baru.<\/p>\n “If this project can be expedited, the credit will go to the Federal Government. It will be all yours,” he added.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n KULAI: Caretaker Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi has urged Putrajaya to speed up implementation of the Elevated Autonomous Rapid Transit (E-ART) project. He…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":61187,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=61186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/61187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=61186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=61186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=61186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n
\n
Read Full Article At Source <\/a>
\n