According to a recent article, it is said that there are more cars than people in Malaysia and many have assumed that many Malaysians have purchased cars during the pandemic, is that true?
The Malaysian Automotive Association (MMA) came out with a statistic showing 480,971 cars were purchased in 2020 whereas 452,663 cars were purchased in 2021 compared to 550,179 cars purchased in 2019. If this is the case, why have traffic jams spiked tremendously compared to pre-pandemic days?
Many experts believe that the pandemic had brought about domino effects on traffic conditions and that the government’s introduction of the automotive sales and services tax exemption in June 2020, which was extended to June 30 2022 could also be a contributing factor that led to the soaring number of vehicles in Malaysia.
With traffic increasing, it is no doubt that Grab prices too will double (or triple!) and this has definitely taken a toll on Grabcar drivers. BusinessToday spoke to several Grabcar drivers and passengers to pick their brains on this matter. Desmund, who has been driving for Grab for three years now said, “With the traffic increasing tremendously these days, we Grabcar drivers suffer too at times when customers cancel a booking when we’re halfway to pick them up just because they had a change of mind at the last minute looking at the price surge”.
Cheryl, a faithful user of Grab for years to get to and from work has also voiced her frustration.
“When all of us had to head back to our offices after the MCO, it was understandable that traffic and Grab prices would increase. But what we have now is preposterous.
It makes no sense to pay RM 45 for a 16km journey!”
Many Malaysians have voiced their concerns and are requesting the government to improve the frequency and accessibility of public transportation.
“Honestly, if I could take the MRT to work, that would be great. Unfortunately, I would have to walk another 35 minutes just to get to the MRT station from my condominium even though it is only 2 km away. There’s no direct access!”, said Hafizah, another Grabcar user who commutes to work daily via Grab.
Malaysians are getting frustrated and a long-term approach to eradicate this issue seems nowhere to be found apparently?
All that we can hope for is for the government to actually tackle this issue wisely and not just come up with a short-term solution.
