KUALA LUMPUR: The launch of the unlimited travel pass My100 and My50 in the Klang Valley today is a trial run before its implementation nationwide to reduce the people’s burden.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the early implementation in the Klang Valley, on Jan 1 next year, is to check its efficacy in reducing the people's cost of living.
“For a trial run, we will begin in Kuala Lumpur so that we can identify any weaknesses to rectify.
“We in the Cabinet feel that this will improve the lives of the people and help reduce the burden of the people so they can have a better life,” he said.
Dr Mahathir said this in a speech during the launch the unlimited travel pass at KL Sentral today.
Among those present were Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook, his deputy Datuk Kamarudin Jaffar, and Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Mohamaddin Ketapi.
During his speech, Dr Mahathir said the unlimited travel pass would encourage Malaysians to use public transportation, thus preventing them from getting stuck in traffic jams.
He said the introduction of the unlimited travel pass would also help the people save as much as RM100 a month.
“Insyaallah, we will be able to introduce this system to uplift our lives become more comfortable due to savings of RM100 a month (from using the MY100 unlimited travel pass for example).
“This would be great savings and I am confident the people here would make this initiative a success.
“With a high ridership, we will be able to buy other (essential) goods as we can save RM1,200 a year if we use the (MY100) pass each month."
Dr Mahathir, however, said the government would not complain if more people bought vehicles as Malaysia was also a car manufacturer.
“We impose no obstacles like certain countries to buy cars. We like it more people buy cars as we (Malaysia) are a car manufacturer.
“However, if there are many car purchases, it would pose a problem in the cities as there would be heavy traffic jams that would restrict us from moving around,” he said to chuckles from the audience.
Dr Mahathir said as a result, the government is pushing through with the plan to encourage Malaysians use of public transportation system via the unlimited travel pass initiative, among others.