A Humongous number of people cross the Johor Causeway every day of the week.
Some estimate the number joining the Johor crawl to be 300,000. Our guesstimate is that it may be more. Why is it happening? When one per cent of Malaysia is squeezed simultaneously through three lanes, that’s what happens.
And the Secured Automated Clearance System for Malaysian Citizen Motorcyclists called the M-Bike is not helping either. Motorists complain of delays, M-Bike breakdowns and errant officers busy with their mobile devices. If anything the traffic snarl has worsened over the years.
Technology’s promise of eight-second immigration clearance remains a mere key performance indicator in year-end performance reviews. Machines like men do fail, but if they break down more frequently than they should, technology may not be the only answer to the Johor crawl.
The 89-yeard-old causeway is just too old and too small for today’s traffic.
The Johor Causeway also comes with another problem. No vessels from the Tanjung Pelepas port can pass through the causeway. Instead, they make a long journey around Singapore to get to Pasir Gudang.
The time, fuel and money spent on making the round trip can be better spent on something more beneficial. Not to mention the carbon footprint the vessels are adding to. The causeway is also notorious for causing massive marine pollution.
This is a challenge for the authorities who want to make Johor Baru a livable city. Those who make great arguments on behalf of technology must know this: how much more can technology improve a causeway that is more than eight decades old? The quick answer is not very much. The evidence? The daily traffic snarl from the wee hours of the morning to the dying hours of the night.
There must be a better way to live a life than to spend hours in a jam. Singapore needs to see this point.
Together — Malaysia and Singapore — can look elsewhere for a better solution.
We like to suggest that the alternative solution is probably the crooked bridge. Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahthir Mohamad first suggested it in 1996 when Malaysia and Singapore could not agree on a straight bridge to replace the aged causeway.
The Malaysian government led by then prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for some reason decided not to proceed with the bridge in 2006, although it was to cost the government coffers S$85.16 million (RMRM257.4 million). If it was built then, it would have cost only RM1.1 billion. The six-lane S-shaped bridge comes with three solutions: better traffic flow, eradication of marine pollution and revival of shipping in the Johor Straits. It is difficult to see why Singapore isn’t sold on the idea.
Perhaps as an artificial intelligence-driven island state, it thinks all problems can be solved by technology. But technology can only do so much. Besides, the Johor Causeway is more than eight decades old, and that is too old for any technology to save.