I was shocked and surprised to read that the works ministry is examining a proposal by Projek Lebuhraya Utara-Selatan (Plus) to build a second highway paralleling the Lebuhraya Damansara- Puchong.

The rationale is that the LDP itself has reached its capacity from the Sunway Toll (PJ South) all the way up to the toll at Sungei Penchala (PJ North).

Residents and drivers in the Puchong and Bandar Sunway areas would attest that the traffic congestion has reached well into Puchong as well.

And yet, I cannot understand why a government that is supposedly committed to improving public transportation can only come up with largely ineffective solutions such as gantry tolls and a new highway.

The LDP is choked by traffic volume because there is simply too much traffic. The real simple and effective solution would be to find a way to reduce the traffic.

Instead, we have proposals like gantry tolls to allow the traffic to move slowly (until they hit the next jammed area) and new highways to allow more people to drive (until they hit the next jammed area).

Connections between Petaling Jaya and Puchong are limited to two options - the LDP and Jalan Puchong.

That is why one of my first pieces of writing about public transport in Malaysia suggested mass transit along the north-south corridors in Petaling Jaya.

A north-south LRT or MRT line through Petaling Jaya has already been proposed as part of the Klang Valley Transport Study.

This is the basis for my proposal that the LRT should be extended from Seri Petaling through Petaling Jaya to Kepong, creating a KL-PJ loop line.

In addition, I proposed an alternative to the extension of the Kelana Jaya LRT from Kelana Jaya to Subang Jaya and USJ.

Instead of just an LRT line, substituting rapid tram or bus-rapid transit system would allow servicea to be introduced for the western Petaling Jaya and Subang Jaya communities, from Damansara all the way down to Puchong using the Persiaran Kewajipan-Airport Rd-NKVE corridor.

The presence of these public transport services would cost less than the proposed highway and they would move massive numbers of people in these two north-south corridors.

But investing in public transport is not a priority of the government despite the promises that it has made. It is clearly not the priority of the works ministry either.

Unless some real effort is made, we will only see more and more highways which will slowly choke off life in our communities.

Ask the residents who are living along the LDP corridor about their quality of life. Then ask yourself if you would wish that decline on your neighbours and yourself just so someone can drive a little bit further or a little bit more often.

Tell your wakil rakyat in PJ and Subang that we don’t need more highways - we need a public transport solution.