Monday, November 16, 2009

Toll Oh Toll.......



People have complained before about the rates we have to pay at the toll gates all over the country. The toll charges for a journey from Penang to JB can easily be more than the cost of filling up your car tank. The authorities of course keep saying that the rate we pay is still one of the lowest in the world. I'm not going to argue about that anymore for we all know that the alternative to a higher rate would be a higher govt. subsidy to the concessionaires.

What bothers me more now is the number of toll plazas we've to pass through and make our payments, as little as a ringgit each time or less. How many times do you have to stop, join the que and make your payment if you travel from KL to Taman Tasik Perdana in Puchong, for example? Or from Sungai Pencala to Seremban following the LEKAS route? Only the Smart Tag or the Touch N Go can help to reduce the frequent botheration.

Is there no way at all to just pay once or twice by indicating where our destination is at the first toll gate? What's most irritating is when the driver in front of you stops a long while to grope around for coins, count the changes in hands or just received, or waits for the partner besides him or her to hand over the money, when the queue is so long and tedious. Worst is when someone tries to cut into the queue, edging in bit by bit and pushing you away with a big or a very expensive car or a boneshaker while yours isnew and very precious. I haven't so far seen any officer on duty at the toll giving such a driver a little reminder or a police officerenforcing the rule against jumping the queue.

Another iritation is when you see a number of gates witrh red lights while the queues are getting longer and longer and impatient drivers are cutting accross whenever they feel the line next to them is moving faster. This happens even close to the coned are where a single file is compulsory. Again i've never seen anyone taken to task for such hooliganism.

Well, the Malaysian road manners have been much talked about and they don'st seem to improve. Thousands upon thousands of summons for traffic ofences have been issued as more traffic police officers pour onto the road, more and more ops sikap are mounted with an increasing death rate every year. I think these things will go on if the Police is more interested in collecting more fines than making people aware of their bad road habits or the danger they caused by violating certain regulations. The rouble is people can pay the fines imposed and forget about the danger they have caused to others, even if they themselves don't mind getting injures or killed.

The Police must come up with something more effective than just imposing a fine, Say this and I'm sure they will think of jail sentences or revoking your driving licence. That's causing difficulties and sufference, not educating, making people aware of their mistakes or lack of concern for others. The easy way out by punishing people is not always the most effective way. Maybe traffic offenders can be asked to mend or sweep the road wearing a specific uniform. When other road users laugh at them, then they wil feel very embarassed or shameful. I certainly don't want ot see my kids or friends launghing at me as I sweep the road as punishment for a traffic offence.

6 comments:

rambomadonna said...

Norzah, I for once would like to advocate on better public transport. If Malaysia public transportation is good that we will have fewer cars on the street (provided that car price tak turun jugak). Sebenarnya I am quite disappointed that no one ambik perhatian kepada our KTMB. Salah ke if we have keretapi laju mcm eurostar or japanese bullet train. I sebenarnya teringin nak cadang supaya more ketapi like ERL diwujudkan untuk menggabungkan growing townships with the likes of tokyo-osaka-kyoto. Tak payah tengok jauh lah ... KL-Seremban for a start. Pastu seremban tu kita develop into tourist attractions ... mcm the SPA city ker, Food City ker ... eeee I so like Japanese punya Food Theme Park ideas... heheh saja jer I pun seremban sebab pemilik blog org Nogori kan...

2nd better city planning taking into consideration economic activities and transportation systems ... everytime I tgk bukit beruntung or rawang. How I wish planners and developers jangan suka speculate jer. Itew I sayang kat SP setia and sunway group ... I kalau ada peluang selalu tanya apa idea di sebalik development mereka.

3rd - about time Malaysian car makers focus on engine design daripada car design. Efficient fuel consumption, low maintenance, longer life span ... GO GREEN! So takkan ada hooo haaa like masa Dasar Automotif diperkenalkan...

4th - on tol concessionaires. Norzah, I pun faham the need of these concessionaires ... on one part to lessen gov burden on building and maintaining roads or to subsidise tolls from tax lah... tapi ... tol sentiasa naik, kualiti jalanraya dia???? Nie yang buat I selalu hangin .... every year announce keuntungan pulak just to please shareholders. Tu I tergolong dalam org2 yang kalau boleh cari jalan nak elak tol hehehe ... (psssttt ... especially jalan from my house to putrajaya or klia).

norzah said...

Alamak banyaknya idea u, J, cadangan turun macam hujan lebat. Semua exciting belaka. Dulu pernah kita bincang nak buat fast train tapi semua rail tracks kena tukar pakai gauge lebar. Kalau tidak ketapinya boleh terbang o. Baru buat double track sudah hebuh, belanjanya (dgn leakage) boleh buat negra bankerap.

Eloknya kita luaskan coverage LRT je, to link all urban centres in KL/Sel. Takyah pakai kereta sendiri lagi kecuali kalau nak berdua-duaan saja pergi park atu tepi hutan. Pakai cable car pun boleh dari menara kondo ke menara kondo sampai stesyen LRT. Baru kita semua boleh ke sana-sini atas angin saja, tak payah bijak tanah, hehehe.

Agaknya kalau jalan-jalan KL tak boleh lalu lagi sok, baru dia org nak cari idea baru. U can still throw in your gems sebagai pegawai tinggi (V&C) nanti.

rambomadonna said...

Norzah, one day i betul2 nak makan japanese food tapi masalahnya I only have 1 hour and me and my colleagues were around jalan ipoh. Nearest shopping complex was Brem Mall. So masa kat sana, we found satu Japanese restaurant tapi kedai tu lengang and meja/kerusi macam tak best.

So I almost batal niat nak makan kat situ when I heard my colleague yang educated kat Jepun cakap "Ni lah orang Malaysia, kalau kedai lengang mesti anggap tak sedap". Sebenarnya it just meant to be a joke pun.

So I macam nak prove my point so I sat there and tunggu for the waiter to serve us. We made our orders (setiap orang order lain2) and the food came few minutes later. To our suprise ... the food turned out to be quite excellent, no frills and even my colleague kata mcm yang dimasak kat Jepun.

My point sebenarnya ... jangan cepat buang good idea or jangan cepat ingat the impossible selamanya impossible. We should learn from the success of Air Asia or ERL (ni I tak sure sangat lah). Perhaps start dengan KL-Penang ker sebab Penang memang ramai tourists - local and foreigner. Furthermore, West Coast of Peninsular malaysia less hilly compared to East Coast. With good volume, modal sure cover balik. I pun senang nak balik Penang hahahah

I sebenarnya heran nape MP Sepang taknak do something mcm MP Nilai buat kat Nilai 3. Develop a place sampai it known for something.

Perhaps change KLIA vicinity into happening areas mcm Bangsar, Hartamas or Jalan Sultan Ismail or Port Dickson on weekends. People can travel ke sana guna ERL, malas nak balik check in jer kat Tune Hotel hahaha...

norzah said...

Memang J, nothing is impossible today. Cuma manusia ni biasanya menjadi banduan penjara fikiran sendiri, prisoner of our own mind, slave of our own belief, fears and value-inculcation. M sure semua yg u sebutkan suatu hari akan berlaku juga. Soalnya bila?

Hehe. itew pun soal orang bujang. Akan kahwin juga, Cuma bila? Ada yg hebuh-hebuh nak kahwin tapi tak kunjung-kunjung berlaku. Ada yg senyap-senyap je, tiba-tiba dah tumbang.Pengalaman i di Univ dulu, org yg paling hebuh nak kawin dialah yg paling lambat mendirikan dumah tangga.Lelaki perempuan sama je.

N tolong jangan salahkan Mak Ayah ya? Mereka cuma nasihat. kita yg buat. Setau i kalau dah jumpa jodoh, Mak Ayah bawakan senapang gajahpun, melekat juga hehehe.

rambomadonna said...

Norzah, sebut pasal kawin2 nie sebab dah nak Disember ker? hehehe

norzah said...

Hai, teringat sesuatu ke?