CITY Hall will test out the park-and-ride system in one or two major roads by the middle of the year as part of efforts to deal with the perpetual traffic jams in the capital city, said Federal Territories Minister Khalid Samad.

This, along with better hygiene and cleanliness at the food and hawker centres and upgraded tourist spots, is among the priority projects to uplift Kuala Lumpur, he said.

The park-and-ride project is part of a longterm plan to decrease the number of passenger cars going into the city centre.

But to do that, the authorities must guarantee that it has an efficient public transport system, Khalid said in a question-and-answer programme on BFM radio today.

“We are starting to make the plan and it will be a gradual plan, by identifying areas of KL where there is heavy traffic and looking at where we can have park-and-rides and buses to bring people in,” Khalid said.

A park-and-ride system lets commuters leave their cars at designated parking lots and take a bus into the city.

“Hopefully by the middle of this year we will start. I’ve already asked the KL mayor (Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan) to identify roads with heavy traffic and land nearby for a park-and-ride system.”

Khalid added tackling hygiene problems was the ministry’s new motto, “Wilayah dipeduli, Harapan dipenuhi” (Federal Territories are cared for, hope is fulfilled).

This includes cleaning up dirty food and hawker centres.

“We are going in for this in a big way but it can’t be done overnight and it will take a lot of spending and time. There are already programmes to move roadside hawkers into proper food courts in the city.”

City Hall is also reviving its tourism promotion department and it working with associations and travel agencies to turn the city into a centre for arts and culture.

“There have been a lot of talk about opening public theatre venues so that tourists can be entertained by dance troupes. It’s one of the ideas to make KL more vibrant and active and clean.” – February 11, 2019.