KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 9 — Putrajaya Corporation (PPj) has decided not to proceed with the proposed trackless tram or Automated Rail Transit (ART) system in the administrative capital due to high projected costs, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Lo Su Fui said preliminary studies estimated the total cost of implementing the ART system — including infrastructure development, systems, operations and maintenance — at RM211.95 million over a 10-year period.

“This cost is beyond PPj’s financial capacity as a local authority. Based on this, PPj will not proceed with the ART implementation in Putrajaya, and there are no plans to expand the alignment into future phases,” he said.

Lo was responding to a question from PKR Sekijang MP Dr Zaliha Mustafa on the current status of the ART system, following an earlier pilot phase, as well as plans for route expansion to improve first- and last-mile connectivity to government complexes and existing transport hubs such as the MRT and Express Rail Link.

He added that PPj was not bound by any contractual obligations related to the proposal, which he said had been submitted purely for market study purposes.

However, Lo said PPj remains open to reviewing future public transport planning needs, subject to financial capacity and allocation approvals, particularly in efforts to achieve the target of 70 per cent public transport usage.

Addressing alternative financing models, including public-private partnerships, Lo said all decisions are made based on comprehensive evaluations of costs, benefits, risks and the government’s current fiscal capacity.

To ease traffic congestion in Putrajaya, he said PPj has implemented several improvement measures, including the operation of NadiPutra buses on seven daily routes, as well as water taxi services.

He said the peak-hour frequency for Route P101 is every 10 minutes, while six other routes operate at 20-minute intervals.

Lo added that traffic management in Putrajaya is centrally coordinated through the Putrajaya Control Centre, alongside the phased implementation of public transport integration initiatives such as Demand Responsive Transit.

These efforts, he said, are supported by the Transport Masterplan Study and Action Plan 2050 to further address congestion challenges in the administrative capital.