Population data mismatch undermines PJ transport master plan

 

In our previous article, we asked whether residents had the full picture during the public display of the Draft Petaling Jaya Local Plan (Replacement). In this piece, we look at whether the numbers behind PJ’s transport masterplan can be relied on.

Are you spending hours in traffic jams every single day?

The Petaling Jaya Urban Transportation Master Plan 2.0 (PIP 2.0) is officially the “main input” behind the traffic assumptions in the Draft Petaling Jaya Local Plan (RTPJ) 2035 (Replacement).

The RTPJ (Replacement) and PIP 2.0 cover the whole of Petaling Jaya and are projected for the year 2035.

Remember this name. PIP 2.0 is the technical foundation behind the RTPJ (Replacement)’s traffic assumptions.

The problem in plain English is that the RTPJ (Replacement) was designed for a city of 1,048,681 people.

PIP 2.0 was calculated for a city of 979,244 people.

Nearly 70,000 people are missing from road capacity calculations. That number is unaccounted for, even before a single new development approved under the RTPJ (Replacement) is built.

Petaling Jaya

At a technical session on March 12, the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) presented three population scenarios for 2035 from its own planning slides:

1. 884,004 (natural growth)

2. 1,048,681 (selected, based on Selangor’s two percent annual growth rate)

3. 1,508,494 (National Physical Plan 2 projection)

The figure used in PIP 2.0 is 979,244. That does not match any of the three scenarios MBPJ itself presented.

More importantly: MBPJ selected 1,048,681 based on Selangor’s two percent annual growth rate. Was MBPJ’s selection based on what Petaling Jaya’s infrastructure can actually carry?

PIP 2.0 confirms that 26 of the city’s 30 entry and exit points are already congested, due in part to spillover from regional highways shared with neighbouring local authorities.

Does a PIP 2.0 calculated on figures that do not match MBPJ’s own population scenarios give residents any confidence that PJ’s roads can handle the additional density, land use conversions, and population growth the RTPJ (Replacement) proposes to allow?

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PIP 2.0 was missing 70,000 people. Will the State Planning Committee resolve this before the RTPJ (Replacement) is gazetted? - Mkini

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PJ SEJAHTERA is a community advocacy group.

SUSTAINABLE PETALING JAYA ASSOCIATION (SPJA) is an NGO promoting sustainable development.

All figures and technical references in this statement are sourced from MBPJ’s own planning documents, including the RTPJ (Replacement), PIP 2.0, and official MBPJ presentation slides from the technical session on March 12. A summary of that session was shared with MBPJ on March 15. No corrections were received.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.