KUALA LUMPUR: More than 4.3 million vehicles from Singapore crossed the Johor-Singapore border from January to September this year, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said over RM87 million in road charges were collected during this period.
"For the category of vehicles from Singapore, as of September, a total of 4,397,229 vehicles entered both entry points of Johor and Singapore, with road charges collected amounting to RM87,944,580
"On average, 16,107 vehicles enter Malaysia from Singapore daily," he said in response to Tan Hong Ping (PH-Bakri).
Tan had asked about the number of Singapore-registered vehicles, as well as the amount collected following the implementation of the Road Charge (RC) as of last month.
Loke added: "As of September, it was estimated that approximately 89,818 trips were made daily by various types of vehicles crossing the Johor-Singapore border through the Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine (CIQ) Complex in the Sultan Iskandar Building (BSI) and the Sultan Abu Bakar Complex (KSAB)."
The breakdown of vehicles comprised cars with 31,194, motorcycles with 53,000, buses with 3,531, and lorries with 2,093. The figures include vehicles registered in both Malaysia and Singapore.
To Tan's supplementary question, asking if the collection from the road charges would be channelled to public transport in Johor Baru and other districts in the state, Loke said, "The collection from road charge in 2023 was RM91,037,040. This year, as I have mentioned before, we have collected RM87 million as of last month.
"(And) we expect an increase in vehicle entries into Johor from Singapore this year, so I estimate that the collection will exceed RM100 million.
"The total revenue from the road charge is deposited into the consolidated revenue account. However, from this amount, for every RM20 collected by the federal government for the road charge, RM5 is returned to the Johor state government.
"I take the suggestion positively and we will try to discuss with the Finance Ministry to allocate the amount collected from the road charge to be channelled for public transport.
"With the RTS (Rapid Transit System) project, we certainly need more buses and an additional budget."