Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (KL City Hall) has announced a massive increase in parking rates on DBKL-owned parking bays around the territory. Depending on locality, rates have gone up by as much as 100% to 200%, according to Paultan.org.

Hourly parking charges in the central business district have been raised from 80 sen per hour to RM2 for the first hour and RM3 for every subsequent hour. So if you were to park for a full work day from 7.30am to 6pm, you’d have to pay RM32 per day. That’s no better than parking in a commercial parking lot…

By next month, areas outside the city centre, such as Brickfields, Taman Maluri, Cheras, and Setapak will see rates increased from 50 sen to RM1 or RM1.50 per hour, a 100% and 200% increase.

However, Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan did note that there will not be a two-hour parking limit as previously suggested, for now. According to KL Mayor Datuk Seri Mohd Amin Nordin Abdul Aziz, the increase was implemented to encourage more people to carpool and use public transportation as traffic in KL is already ‘bursting at the seams’.

Though the idea seems reasonable, perhaps DBKL should also focus on why people prefer to drive instead of taking public transport. Buses remain unreliable and the LRT is still not accessible to many people.

The extension of the Kelana and Ampang LRT lines have connected certain areas in Subang and Puchong, but the majority of people who travel in and out of KL for work choose to travel by car because it is still more convenient and affords more freedom than public transportation.