I SYMPATHISE with A. Rizal on his experience trying to use public transportation (”Best bet is to drive oneself” — NST, Jan 21), but I do not see how I could.

After all, A. Rizal was able to get from Subang Jaya KTM station to Kuala Lumpur station in 20 minutes, which is actually the same amount of time that it would take to drive directly using the New Pantai Expressway.

As for his experience on the return trip, it did take longer but 30 minutes is quite reasonable. The jam that occurs coming out of Subang Jaya station and throughout Subang Jaya is really not the fault of the KTM Komuter service.

A. Rizal makes some very clear points which I do agree with. Yes, it is clear that the authorities have neglected public transportation, allowing it to deteriorate and become unreliable.

It is also clear that the authorities have shown (thus far) little commitment in getting rid of the old, disorganised operations that are completely focused on profits instead of service.

It is further becoming clear to us now that the authorities are presenting no balanced plan for improving public transportation and are instead trying to get everyone to hope for an LRT extension to solve their problems.

At the same time, it seems to me that A. Rizal has given up on trying to use public transportation quite quickly even though the cause of most of his trouble is drivers (like him) who live in Subang Jaya and USJ.

The truth is, public transportation is working in Malaysia. It could be working a lot better if we are committed to making real, serious improvements to the system instead of hoping for magical solutions to our problems.

Over the next few months, I believe that we will start to see public transportation in Malaysia break down even further. The anticipated rise in petrol prices will push many people to use public transport, overwhelming the system and causing chaos and a breakdown.

Perhaps, out of this misery, we will finally see some serious improvements to public transportation. But in the meantime, please call on your elected representatives to bring about real improvements.

Please do not dismiss public transport outright.

Source: NST – January 29, 2008