What the Asean Summit’s road closures taught us about traffic

The six-day road closure showed that less driving means less traffic and that it’s time to stop encouraging driving and start building people-first cities.

From Boo Jia Cher

The past several days, something remarkable has happened in Kuala Lumpur. As dignitaries descended on the city for the Asean Summit, major roads were closed. Public servants were told to work from home. People were urged to use public transport, shift their travel schedules, or avoid unnecessary driving. Many predicted chaos and gridlock.

Yet, a viral video told a different story: the Federal Highway, usually a choked artery of the Klang Valley, was smooth and clear.

What we witnessed was not a miracle. It was a phenomenon known to transport planners around the world: reduced demand.

Just as building more roads encourages more people to drive—a concept called “induced demand”—limiting road availability can lead people to adapt, by changing travel times, routes, or even choosing not to drive at all. And the result? Less traffic.

This is the traffic solution Klang Valley has been skirting around for years.

Instead, we’ve gone down the exact opposite path. We’ve allowed our cities to sprawl around the car: endless expressways, flyovers and road widenings. And every time traffic gets worse, our answer has been to build more roads. Meanwhile, gridlock remains a daily reality.

And somehow, officials from the works ministry continue to approve more highways as the cure. Seriously?

It’s time for a U-turn

The Asean Summit gave us a live demo of what actually works: reduce the need and attractiveness of driving, and traffic goes down. So why aren’t we doing this every day?

Here’s what we should be doing:

• Tear down highways, especially those slicing through our urban fabric.
• Narrow wide arterial roads in city centres to prioritise walkability and public life.
• Implement congestion pricing for motor vehicles entering key areas during peak hours.
• Raise parking fees and limit parking availability in dense areas.
• Phase out fuel subsidies, which artificially lower the cost of driving.

At the same time, we must seriously boost public transport. During the summit, RapidKL increased train frequencies during peak hours. So, they can do it! What’s stopping them from doing it year-round?

We should be pouring funds into buying more buses, enforcing bus lanes, upgrading train infrastructure, and ensuring high-quality maintenance.

And let’s not forget the first and last mile: we need shaded walkways, safe pedestrian crossings, and dedicated cycling paths in every neighbourhood and around every station.

Yes, it’s politically unpopular—but it works.

Many Malaysians, understandably, are deeply attached to their cars. Decades of car-centric urban planning, and a lack of real alternatives, have left us little choice and motivation to try alternatives.

Changing this will be hard. But other cities have done it, and they’re reaping the benefits:

• Paris removed space for cars, expanded bike lanes, and banned vehicles in parts of the city. Now, air quality and public life have drastically improved.
• London introduced congestion pricing and invested in cycling and transit. Traffic dropped and public transport usage soared.
• Seoul tore down a highway to revive the Cheonggyecheon stream and in the process, improved local climate and reduced car usage. Traffic improved as well, contrary to what everyone predicted.
• New York converted entire streets like Times Square into pedestrian plazas, which boosted local businesses and made the city more liveable.

These weren’t easy decisions. They faced backlash. But in the long run, they transformed cities for the better.

Act now

Each year of inaction pulls us deeper into a trap of gridlock, pollution, and widening inequality. Our current trajectory, marked by endless highways, fuel subsidies and neglected public transport, is a blueprint for dysfunction.

It’s a system rigged to benefit developers, car manufacturers, highway concessionaires, and oil companies at the expense of ordinary Malaysians’ dignity, safety, and sanity.

It’s time to stop making excuses. Stop subsidising congestion. Stop putting corporate profits ahead of the public good.

We already know what works. We’ve seen the solutions—efficient, inclusive, sustainable transport—succeed elsewhere and even here in glimpses.

The only question that remains is whether we have the political will to make it real.

If we don’t reduce the demand for driving, the gridlock won’t just persist. It will define us.  - FMT

Boo Jia Cher is an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.