Shah Alam is the capital of Selangor, and is the first planned city in Klang Valley. It is situated west of the Kuala Lumpur city, at approximately 25 kilometres away. It neighbours Klang on the west with part of the city parked under Klang. Accessibility to the other major suburbs of the city are also conveniently close to Shah Alam with Subang Jaya approximately 16 kilometres away, and Petaling Jaya only a little bit further at 17 kilometres.
Shah Alam is a well planned city that enjoys accessibility to a great many highways, connecting the residents to all major suburbs, and even outstation. The closest highway is the Federal Highway, while the main highway that caters to Shah Alam residents is the Lebuhraya Shah Alam which is also known as the Shah Alam Expressway (KESAS). This comprehensive east-west oriented highway links motorists from Pandamaran in Klang all the way to Sri Petaling in Kuala Lumpur. It is also known to be part of the Middle Ring Road 2 (MRR2) scheme, from the Sri Petaling Interchange to Sunway Interchange.
The beautiful Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Mosque (also known as the Blue Mosque) located at Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.
Another major highway that residents of Shah Alam enjoy convenient access to is the New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE). The NKVE is a 35-kilometre long highway that is accessible via the KESAS highway. With this highway, the travel distance to Bukit Raja and Setia Alam is shortened tremendously with the former at approximately 17 kilometres away and the latter 15.4 kilometres.
The NKVE is in fact part of the North-South Expressway plan, which runs 772 kilometres long. As indicated in its name, the North-South highway provides access to the northern and southern part of Malaysia. The highway runs from Bukit Kayu Hitam in Kedah all the way to Johor Bahru, and acts as the “backbone” of Peninsular Malaysia’s west coast. It runs through Kedah, Penang, Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Malacca and Johor.
The other very important highway that the residents of Shah Alam rely on is the Guthrie Corridor Expressway (GCE). This 25-kilometre long highway provides the residents of Shah Alam direct access to Rawang without getting caught in the NKVE traffic. It is considered to be one of the highways with lower toll rates.
The GCE is not the only highway that provides accessibility to outstation. The Kuala Lumpur-Kuala Selangor Expressway (LATAR) is another one such highly relied upon highway that provides connectivity to the outskirts of the city in Kuala Selangor. The highway begins at Templar’s Park on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur in Gombak, and ends at the township of Ijok in Kuala Selangor.
Shah Alam residents will also enjoy access to the West Coast Expressway (WCE) that is, as its name indicates, built on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Via the KESAS highway, motorists will be able to access the WCE to get to various townships such as Taiping, Perak and Banting. The highway begins at Changkat Jering in Perak on the north end, and ends at Banting, Selangor on the southern end.
Public transportation within Shah Alam is scarce, with the closest train station being the LRT station in Glenmarie.