Malaysia boosts first- and last-mile connectivity

Govt rolls out on-demand van service for commuters in Klang Valley and Penang

- Lu Wei Hoong

PETALING JAYA, Selangor - Instead of driving 32km from her home in Malaysia's administrative capital Putrajaya to her work in Petaling Jaya, an engineer who wants to be known only as Ms Izzah has found a cheaper and faster way for her daily commute, bypassing the notorious peak-hour jams in the area.

Since discovering Rapid On-Demand (ROD) Van in April, the 32-year-old has been relying on the passenger van service to complete her last-mile commute between the Light Rail Transit (LRT) station and her office in Selangor state.

"I've been using ROD vans - introduced to me by a friend - for the past two months. If I were to drive during rush hour, it could take up to two hours just getting through the traffic jams," she told The Straits Times on a rainy morning on June 20, while riding in an ROD van on the way to work.

The ROD van helps bridge the 2.4km distance between the Taman Bahagia LRT station and her workplace, without which she would have to make the journey on foot, with no shelter from the sun or rain. The entire journey from home via public transport now takes her less than an hour.

The van service is one of the innovative solutions launched by the Malaysian government to bridge gaps in the public transit network. First- and last-mile connectivity issues, combined with a low public transport usage rate of just 25 per cent as at May 2025, compared with Singapore's 67 per cent, have led many Malaysians to opt for private cars instead, contributing to increased road congestion.