Malaysian Toll Road Public-Private Partnership Program: Analysis and Recommendations for Policy Improvements

Malaysia has relied on toll road public-private partnerships (PPPs) for more than 20 years to provide highway infrastructure. The program has been active; nearly 1,800 km of toll roads have been constructed or concession agreements have been signed for their construction. The public has been less supportive of the program due to low transparency and little public involvement. Public protests are common and may lead to long-term program instability. The complex, large-scale, interconnected, open, and sociotechnical process, developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is applied to Malaysia's toll road PPP program to develop policies that can better meet these public concerns while maintaining the financial viability of the sector. With greater transparency and public involvement, the program's political risks should be reduced and long-term stability for the government and concessionaires improved. Malaysian toll road PPPs currently are handled at the national level. However, it is argued that the focus should be at the regional transportation planning level, at which toll road PPPs can be compared with alternatives for meeting transportation needs.