LETTER | I noticed how Ipoh’s traffic congestion has been getting worse, especially during peak hours on weekdays and on weekends, in general.

I urge the Perak government not to let this problem worsen until it reaches Penang-and Klang Valley-like levels of severity before taking serious action.

It is high time more public buses are provided for Ipoh residents. To help realise this objective, the state and local governments should cooperate closely with the Finance and Transport Ministries.

Currently, many Ipoh residents do not use the existing public buses because there are simply too few, resulting in long waiting periods at bus stops.

People would rather use their own cars as it is much more convenient and saves time. Honestly, this is perfectly understandable.

However, this leads to a high volume of cars on the road daily. Coupled with the opening of more and more car sales centres, this has produced ever-worsening traffic congestion.

Aside from providing more public buses as soon as possible, the government must also:

• Build more bus stops throughout Ipoh.

• Gradually increase parking charges.

• Gradually introduce a tax on cars sold in Ipoh (Steps 2 and 3 will encourage people to utilise public buses rather than their own cars).

• Implement training programmes for car mechanics to equip them with the required skills to repair and service buses. This will help strengthen their job security when the number of cars on the road drops.

I hope the government treats this problem seriously and provides more public buses as soon as possible.

Don't wait until traffic congestion in Ipoh becomes unbearable. Act now to nip this problem in the bud.

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