Why is the disruption from road transport penalties politically more tolerable than rail disruptions?

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Road transport penalties are politically more tolerable because the disruption is dispersed, less visible, and easier for regulators to absorb.

Road transport penalties can hit many smaller businesses at once, but the impact is spread across operators, drivers, customers and supply chains rather than concentrated in one highly visible system. That makes the disruption less immediately apparent to the public, while a rail suspension would affect hundreds of thousands of commuters and the Klang Valley economy in a single, obvious event.
Rail suspensions create concentrated public fallout
A suspended rail service would stop a major urban network and disrupt hundreds of thousands of commuters. It would also affect the Klang Valley economy and carry a risk of political backlash, which is why the government recognises those wider costs when dealing with LRT operators.
Road penalties spread the pain across many firms
Road transport sanctions fall on smaller operators, and the effects are divided among many businesses instead of one large system. The companies involved move goods that stock shops and transport people, so the losses are real, but they are scattered across the market rather than concentrated in one place.
The public sees road disruption less directly
When a road operator is suspended, the disruption is often absorbed through multiple other businesses and routes, making the damage less visible. That lower visibility makes it more politically tolerable than a rail shutdown, where the public sees the impact immediately in commuter delays and service loss.
Regulators can punish smaller operators without the same backlash
APAD has already notified 84 transport companies of proposed enforcement action, with many expected to face licence suspensions of one to two months. A licence suspension bars a company completely from operating, but regulators can impose that on smaller operators without facing the same public consequences that would follow a rail suspension affecting a whole city network.

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Why is the disruption from road transport penalties politically more tolerable than rail disruptions?

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