KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has the highest road fatality risk among Asean countries with estimated losses due to road accidents amounting to RM8.8 billion in 2017.
In the same year, 63 per cent of the 6,740 people killed in road accidents were motorcyclists. On average, more than 4,000 motorcyclists died from road accidents annually.
The worsening number of road fatality cases has compelled the government to urgently strengthen guidelines, regulations and enforcement involving road safety that was highlighted in Policy Thrust 3: “Enhance Safety, Integration, Connectivity and Accessibility For Seamless Journey” of the National Transport Policy 2019-2030.
It is one of the five policy thrusts outlined in the framework, which was unveiled by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today.
According to the framework, the Transport Ministry would be improving safety and security features, apart from introducing safety five-star rating system for commercial, new and used vehicles in stages within the next 12 years.
The ministry, among others, would also be imposing safety requirement for land transport facilities especially for heavy vehicles.
In strengthening governance to create a conducive environment for the transport sector, which is another policy thrust of the framework, the ministry would also be developing a centralised database.
The database with “geo-spatial data and modelling” would allow government agencies to have evidence-based strategic planning as well as more and better analytics, monitoring and evaluation.
“Apart from developing an integrated and market-driven aviation expansion plan, the government would also be strengthening big data abilities at the ministry, other transport agencies and local authorities.”
The ministry plans to roll out several programmes, including liberalising rail services to enable a multi-operator environment as well as upgrading rail facilities to and within ports to ease freight movement with the duration of the implementation of the framework.
This is to explore the untapped potential for using rail to transport goods.
According to policy thrust 2: “Optimise, Build and Maintain the Use of Transport Infrastructure, Services and Networks to Maximise Efficiency”, the ministry found that the current movement of goods by rail is only 30 per cent of total railway track capacity.
“Less than five per cent of land freight is transported by rail. Therefore, there is untapped potential for using rail to transport goods, especially for dangerous and hazardous materials.
“Globally, rail transportation of hazardous materials is recognised to be the safest method of moving large quantities of chemicals over long distances.
“Similarly, there is additional capacity on the existing Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd’s Komuter and intercity rail services which have the potential to be utilised,” said the framework.