KUALA LUMPUR (May 8): Motorists heading out the Klang Valley ahead of Malaysia’s 14th general election have been on a crawl along the Kuala Lumpur-Karak highway leading towards several marginal and hot seats, according to Undi Traffic analysis.

Heavy traffic was identified as early as 8pm last night heading towards the Bentong toll according to Google data, which saw the average journey time rising 130.08%. As at 12.00pm, traffic was up 164.02% against the hourly average for the day.

According to independent data economist Khor Yu Leng, traffic along major expressways picks up by some 10% to 20% during festive seasons, which can as much as double the travelling time for motorists.

Bentong has been identified as both a hot and marginal seat for the upcoming election. Incumbent member of parliament (MP) Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai will be coming head to head with DAP candidate Wong Tack, whom he beat by just under 400 votes in the last general election. Balasubramaniam Nachiappan, who will be contesting under the PAS flag, makes it a three-cornered fight.

From the Bentong toll, motorists heading towards Raub are seeing increasing congestion, which is currently 43.51% above the average.

Raub marginally won by DAP’s Mohd Arif Sabri Abdul Aziz against BN’s Hoh Kai Mun in the last general election. The constituency will see a three-cornered fight between Tengku Zulpuri Shah of PKR, Chew Mei Fun of BN’s MCA and Dr Mohd Nilam of PAS in GE14.

Meanwhile, the Gua Musang highway saw congestion along several stretches all the way up to Kuala Krai in Kelantan, where traffic surged between 8.00am and 9.00am today at over 20% of the typical daily average time.

Traffic is currently still elevated along the route, marking a shift the daily traffic trend from a smoother-than-usual pace seen since end-April, as voters appear to be taking the Central Spine route towards the east coast of the peninsula.

Elsewhere in the Klang Valley, roads are clearer than usual,  notably along the DUKE Highway heading towards Titiwangsa where BN's Datuk Seri Johari Bin Abdul Ghani will contest against PKR's Rina Mohd Harun and PAS' Haji Mohamad Noor Mohamad.

However, for Lembah Pantai, traffic is heavily congested from Federal Highway - Subang Jaya to Petaling Jaya - heading towards Lembah Pantai.

A new face of PKR’s candidate Fahmi Fadzil, who replaced Nurul Izzah Anwar will be contesting against BN's Raja Nong Chik and PAS' Fauzi Bin Abu Bakar for the marginal seat.