Current issues, feedback & complaints on public services in Malaysia
THE news that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi acknowledges the deteriorating state of Komuter and LRT services in the Klang Valley offers hope that the mass transit system will be improved.
It was timely that Abdullah used the train services last Thursday. He should also take RapidKL buses one day.
There has to be an understanding of how mass transit can improve our lives before we offer quick-fix suggestions. Knee-jerk reactions such as the retraction of the subsidy to RapidKL few weeks ago show a lack of understanding of the goal of having a mass transit system.
Look at the things that we use and share with others. Streets, street lamps, trash and police services are among the things we share through tax contributions.
If we live in an apartment, we are collectively responsible for maintaining the lifts because we can’t afford to have individual lifts.
Mass transit, too, behaves in a collective manner. If most of us think we should get to where we want to be individually, then there will not be enough incentive for a pooled fund to be set up for mass transit.
Most of us are used to driving our own vehicles until our pursuit for a better lifestyle ends up in urban sprawl, costly public road infrastructure, massive traffic jams and sky-rocketing fuel prices, ruining our collective productivity and halting our pursuit of a better life.
Every road space taken by a new road user will eat out another user’s space.
If we can pool our resources together to build sidewalks and streets, why is it hard for us to get the same allocation to build an integrated mass transit system that can use the shared sidewalks and streets more efficiently?
If we think public transport operators (and hence, users) should bear all of the costs related to mass transit infrastructure and system, then we should remind ourselves that most of those costs are a result of our collective lack of concern about sharing.
Beating traffic jams individually means creating more air and sound pollution, more productivity losses, and more injuries and fatalities.
If we think mass transit thrives in the presence of competition without governmental interference, then remember the single biggest competitor to mass transit is private transport (cars, motorbikes and trucks).
Private transport monopolises most of the government-funded infrastructure that mass transit relies on.
Not just infrastructure, but other types of mass-transit-related activities, such as licensing and route rationalisation, are under overlapping jurisdictions (Economic Planning Unit, Transport Ministry, Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board and City Hall) all working in isolation.
Without well-coordinated mass transit support, there can be no accountability, and without key performance indicators to achieve and no systems to rely on, mass transit operators have no choice but to cut corners to survive.
If we think public transport operators and users should privately bear all the costs related to mass transit infrastructure and operations, then we should remind ourselves that our scarce public roads are disproportionately taken up by private vehicles which do not bear the full costs they generate for society in terms of pollution, congestion and loss of productivity.
That is why fare revenues only make up one-third of a transit system’s operating budget in most developed countries. The rest is made up for by taxpayers’ money.
Studies in the United States have shown that every US$1 (RM3.30) invested in public transportation projects generates between US$4 and US$9 in local economic activity.
Without sufficient government funding, there is no way mass transit operators can take away the lure of motorcycles.
The Malaysian Institute of Road Safety recently anticipated more road deaths from the increase in the number of motorcyclists in the wake of the petrol price hike.
The government must do more to improve mass transit coverage under the 2009 Budget.
Riding a transit bus is 79 times safer than riding a car, let alone riding a motorcycle.
If the government allows more highways to be built to increase connectivity, why can’t it use a portion of its pooled resources to support an economical yet integrated mass transit system, which includes all modes of transport, to prevent congestion?
For example, 30 buses can relieve the maximum amount of free-flow traffic on the Ampang-KL Elevated Highway.
With a combined “park-n-ride” capacity of 10,000, the parking bays at the Shah Alam and Bukit Jalil stadiums can render the Kesas, New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE) and Elite expressways empty of private vehicles.
Since we have an excellent network of limited-access free-flow expressways in the Klang Valley, we can consider these as expressway rapid transit (ERT) “tracks”, with ERT buses as “trains”.
Bus “stations” can be built on top of these “tracks” at places with a high suburban population, and bus terminals for suburban feeder bus services can be built within the suburban areas and next to the ERT points.
Three Kuala Lumpur gateway points for ERT buses can be created at KL Sentral/Mid Valley Megamall, Imbi and Sentul Timur with bus ramps to the NKVE and the North Pantai Expressway, KL-Putrajaya expressway and Duta-Ulu Klang Expressway.
These gateway points should be linked to the Ampang and Kelana Jaya LRT lines, KL Monorail and high- frequency bus routes.
The Dang Wangi LRT station can be the main gateway point for ERT from Ampang as it sits at the end point of the Ampang-KL Elevated Highway.
To meet demand during rush hours, express bus operators should be allowed to bid for contracts to serve as ERT buses.
In a nutshell, all stakeholders of mass transit must consider the following to improve mass transit:
- Mass transit should not be seen as a means of travel only for those who can’t afford private transport, as the entire population can no longer afford to neglect mass transit;
- Investment (often wrongfully perceived as subsidies) in mass transit infrastructure and operations has to be coordinated by transit authorities;
- Mass-transit infrastructure needs support at the local level as the single biggest means of accessing public transport is walking and local councils can ensure accessibility for all;
- There must be fair allocation of risks and responsibilities between operators and authorities, and non-discriminatory distribution of tax revenue and fee income to cover the urban population’s transport needs; and,
- The government must not abandon the principles of transparency, good governance and public participation in improving mass transit.
The longer we ignore the problem, the harder it is to solve it.
We must aim for effective and integrated rapid transit.
Hopefully, Abdullah’s visit is a sign that the government has the will to put mass transit on the right track.
M. ZULKARNAIN HAMZAHA, ssociation for Improvement of Mass Transit (Transit) Klang Valley
Source: NST – August 25, 2008
One response to “MASS TRANSIT SYSTEM: A will to get back on track”
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TwoSen is updated daily with letters written to newspapers in Malaysia.
We publish all the letters here giving you a single source to keep track of current issues, feedback and complaints on public services. We do not alter the content of the letters, but do allow comments to facilitate positive discussions.
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Abu Fatimah
September 10th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
In addition of the integrated public transport, it is also detrimental for the authority to look into the location of certain companies, public school or place of worship.
The relocation of these entities will enables better traffic control during the peak time. A school/university shouldn’t be in a congested city. A hospital should not be located near a congested highway. A big company that has the highest number of population should not reside at the center of congested area. Relocation of such companies should be able to relief the congested area. A good example is the relocation of government offices to Putrajaya.
With the advancement of the IT infrastructure and the computer-dependency job and the ever increasing no of people going to work everyday, SOHO (small office and home office) is becoming a better alternative. Working from home is an ideal option to solve the problem of having private transportation off the public road. The idea of working from home is relatively new, government or companies should be able to offer this job to their current employee, and play their role to relieve the congestion.
Road and Flow planning,
Choreographed flows. Choreographed flows means that playing different tune depends on the requirement. At a different time the conducter of the event (traffic light) will play a more intelligent role to improve traffic flow. This required extensive data gathering and analysis on the social behavior of human being in a car. A good example if we look into how the Saudi Government take the initiative to improve the stone throwing area of Makkah. As well as the traffic system in the new york city
The movement of traffic is like the movement of blood cell in our body. Those places who has to handle bigger volume has the priority of having bigger capacity and round the clock monitoring (the heart).
It also must have a good and advance system to separate the oxygen and the carbon dioxide streams of blood.
A good in and out system that i have seen so far is the design of the KLCC, it is very easy to go in to klcc and out of the klcc.
As per mentioned in the above article, park and ride is also a good way to relief traffic congestion, however, the parking amenities should be upgraded as well, we need more parking space near the main lrt station to attract people to park and ride.
Another current system that should be improve is the traffic update/navigational system. The system should design to give free update via sms/via phone map gps of what are alternatives route to follow if highway reach at certain capacity based on user route.
We should also look into gathering knowledge from the traffic controller (JPJ) who handles traffic during peak hours. Those people have ton’s of experience on what should be done to the current system. And they should be rewarded handsomely for their ideas.