People in the southern Johor state’s capital city and its outlying towns have long had to struggle to find parking spaces, but the crunch has worsened due to the daily flow of workers crossing the Johor-Singapore border, one of the busiest land crossings in the world with over 350,000 daily travelers.
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A motorist passes cars at a public carpark in Malaysia’s southern city of Johor Bahru April 26, 2017. Photo by Reuters |
Local traders reported that as early as dawn on weekdays, hundreds of vehicles, mostly owned by Malaysians working across the border, were already filling up public parking spaces in key transit areas across the region. These commuters typically leave their cars and take buses to the city-state, only returning late in the evening, according to a recent report by The Independent Singapore.
Mar Muhammad, 33, who owns a stall at the Iskandar Malaysia Food Court in the town of Gelang Patah, said nearly 20 vendors there have seen lower profits over the past two years due to the lack of parking spaces.
“The cars come in as early as 5 a.m. and stay until 8 p.m. Some are left for weeks,” he told the New Straits Times, adding that little has changed despite complaints to the authorities.
“Customers circle the area multiple times, give up, and leave. It is affecting our livelihoods.”
Over in Perling, another town close to Johor Bahru, the problem also extends into reserved lots.
“Some of these car owners block our paid bays. We have had to call in enforcement tow trucks just to carry on with our business,” said Amirul Arshad, 31, who works at a local motorcycle repair shop.
“It’s been like this for many years,” said Wong Oi Ling, 68, who runs Chinese herbal drinks shop Kok Yow Yong with her older sister in downtown Johor Bahru. Despite showing up as early as 4:30 a.m., they often face difficulty finding a parking space.
“I pity the businesses here… the lots are always full,” she told The Straits Times, explaining that nearby businesses face the same struggle as customers often leave if they cannot find a spot to park.
Privately managed carparks are also full, according to the Singaporean newspaper. An attendant of a parking area opposite the Galleria Kotaraya mall said Malaysians commuting to Singapore take up roughly 80% of its 200 spaces every day.
Besides businesses, the parking woe has also plagued Johor Bahru residents. Ratna Bahtiar, a resident at a flat near the Larkin Sentral Bus Terminal—a travel hub to both domestic destinations and Singapore—said she sometimes has to park elsewhere as commuters leave their cars in her building.
“There is hardly enough parking for residents to begin with, and now we also have to compete with outsiders for the limited bays,” she told The Star.
“It is frustrating not being able to park your car at the place you live in.”
Solutions still being weighed
Experts point out that a mix of factors, including locals’ heavy reliance on private vehicles, cheap parking fees, and poor connectivity between housing areas and cross-border bus hubs, are to blame for Johor Bahru’s mounting traffic and parking challenges.
Associate Professor Walter Theseira, a transport economist at the Singapore University of Social Sciences, said many residential areas in Johor Bahru are poorly served by public transport. New developments also tend to assume that residents will rely on private vehicles.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke noted in 2023 that Malaysia recorded 36.3 million vehicle registrations, outnumbering its population of 32.4 million.
From 2015 to 2020, the country averaged 535 cars per 1,000 people—the second-highest rate in Asia after Japan, statistics from the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers show.
Rates for public parking in the city start at just 40 sen (10 U.S. cents) for 30 minutes and RM6 (US$1.42) for a full day. Private lots, meanwhile, charge up to RM20 per day, quite affordable for those earning Singapore wages.
“We aren’t in the wrong because we pay for parking,” said Aswad Ahmad Anwar, a 35-year-old from the town of Skudai who works as a production assistant in a factory in Singapore. He earns the Singapore-dollar equivalent of RM7,000 monthly.
Johor’s housing and local government committee chairman, Datuk Mohd Jafni Md Shukor, acknowledged that complaints have been mounting and said the issue was raised during a recent state assembly session.
“No doubt this is an issue that needs to be addressed, but at the same time, we do not want to make an abrupt decision that can negatively affect people’s lives,” he told StarMetro, adding that the state government would need time to carefully evaluate possible solutions that could benefit everyone involved.
Until then, he called on Malaysians commuting to Singapore to be considerate and not monopolize parking spaces.
“It is unfair for businesses that are losing customers because of this problem,” he said. “I appeal to those involved to be more thoughtful.”
