My brother-in-law resides in Linz, Austria. It is the third largest city in Austria and has reliable and well-connected public transport.
The transport authorities offer free or discounted fares to certain sectors of the local population whilst keeping the fares reasonable for others and tourists too.
Well-constructed cycling lanes are wide spread, properly maintained and is a popular mode of transport even when during colder seasons.
Pavements for pedestrian traffic are ever present alongside the roads and are wide and raised above the roads making them safe and convenient to use.
But cars are still plentiful and, on the increase, yearly. When I visit, he shows and laments to me the new roads, bridges, and expensive tunnels built to cope with the traffic increases.
Recently, he has seen a strange phenomenon, lots of abandoned supermarket trolleys in his neighborhood. He noticed many of his neighbors who would drive 500m to the nearest supermarket are now going there on foot and returning home with their shopping in the trolleys and then abandoning them by the pavement.
The reason he surmises is the high cost of fossil fuel in Austria. EVs are not spared either as electricity charges have spiked too. So, people have turned to reducing their car journeys to save on ever costlier petrol and power costs.
The higher costs of living due to worldwide higher petrol costs have also pushed the people to economize and save wherever possible and practical. Reducing car journeys is an obvious choice especially when it is a short one and public transport is widely and economically available.
Before the argument turns to the hot weather which prevents Malaysians from walking, let’s take a look at people living in temperate climates with four seasons.
In winter, it could be cold, wet, windy, and icy and it is not pleasant to be walking outside even when dressed warm. Heat is relative to everyone. When you live with single digit temperature for six months, over 24°C is warm or even hot. They likely sweat at that temperature just like us in the hotter tropics.
From this example, it can be hypothesized that more expensive fuel costs can force people to walk more or use public transport. 500m or 1km is not too much to walk especially if there are covered walkways or pavements with shady trees which the government has now budgeted for year 2027.
Free public transport for Malaysians under 24 and senior citizens should be provided. The money saved from reduced petrol subsidized can be used to finance this initiative.
Offer discount fares at off-peak hours to further encourage use of public transport.
Increased savings from reduced petrol subsidies can be channeled directly to STR and SARA which are more helpful and impactful to ease the costs of living.
Reducing petrol subsidies can be most effective in encouraging people to walk, cycle, and use public transport and ensure more direct and meaningful financial aid to all.
Koo Wee Hon (kooweehon@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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