COMMENT Traffic woes are a perennial problem in Malaysia - in common with many other countries in the region and beyond. This is compounded by the fact that private ridership continues to cumulatively increase. It has to be, therefore, emphasised time and again that resolving traffic issues is not only for the short- and medium-term but also for the long haul.

This means that myopic solutions that only offer temporary relief in the form of ‘patch-ups’ such as for example, widening trunk roads can only lead to persistent problems recurring and accumulating over time.

Thus, as a matter of policy principle, measures such as road widening, flyovers, the construction of new bitumen/ asphalt roads or even of elevated highways and mass rapid transit (MRT) system etc. should be ‘conceptualised’ only as ‘stop-gap’ measures - which provide time and the breathing space for the authorities to implement more sustainable and comprehensive solutions.