KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 9 —The government will be adopting a carrot-and-stick approach for motorists who misuse bus lanes, in its bid to cut road congestion.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke said today that the authorities are actively monitoring city roads and promised that tougher action will be taken if motorists persist in ignoring the dedicated bus lanes.

"For now we will give carrots first but if that doesn’t work the stick will come. It will come,” the minister told reporters after attending Prasarana Malaysia Berhad’s 2023 performance report and 2024 plan presentations here.

Prasarana, the principal company operating all major public transport systems in Kuala Lumpur and Penang, released its latest ridership data, which showed the number of people taking buses daily in 2023 was less than half of pre-pandemic levels.

During the presentation, it was suggested that one of the factors deterring people from taking the bus could be the rampant abuse of bus lanes by irresponsible car drivers.

Daily bus ridership in 2023 rose by 35 per cent compared to the previous year but was still significantly lower than in 2019, when it reached nearly 473,000.

Loke also said Prasarana is aiming for an 18-per cent improvement to last year’s 241,000 ridership, or about 285,000 this year.

The corporation said it plans to increase the number of bus stops in Klang Valley and Penang to 117 from 78 currently, as well as expand existing permanent and pilot bus lanes on Jalan Ampang and Jalan Klang Lama in the capital city and Jalan Burma in Penang.