I REFER to “Get moving on public transport” (The Star, Jan 19) and am glad that the poor state of our public transport has come to the attention of the Deputy Prime Minister.

However, this is not the first time we have heard of initiatives to improve the public transport system in the city.

Despite RM4bil having been allocated to improve the public transport system in Kuala Lumpur, I doubt that we can see any improvement in the system in the near future.

The reason is that the lead time taken by the relevant authorities and the services providers to respond to the woes in the public transport system is too long, and the delays have now taken a toll on the KL city road system.

For example, the ticketing system at Rapid LRT stations is a total disaster. The common woes are frequent breakdown of ticket vending machines and Touch n Go points, non-user friendly ticket vending machines (accept coins only), and merely one or two ticket counters open during peak periods.

These woes are decades old and had been raised and forwarded to the Rapid LRT operators for years. The situation has not improved, but rather has turned from bad to worse.

It has been more than a year since the Government announced the allocation to improve the public transport system but I do not see any follow-up other than more Rapid KL buses being put on the road.

In the meantime, I have no choice but to contribute to the congestion in the city until I find that taking public transport is more convenient than driving into the city.

FRUSTRATED LRT USER,
Sungai Buloh, Selangor.

Source: The Star – January 21, 2008