I finished 2008 with great hope that public transport in Malaysia would soon be improved. But the truth is that the government still has not understood public transport and various ministries and various levels of government still operate in isolation - meaning that more time is spent on short-term issues instead of long-term planning.

Aside from the controversy over the relocation of the Klang North bus terminal, there are the proposed revamps of KTMB and RapidKL by two different ministries that should be carefully examined.

Recently, the Transport Ministry announced that it would push ahead with breaking down KTMB into different companies, namely asset owners (owning the tracks and trains and stations and workshops) and operators (to operate the trains and stations).

This would be a continuation of the stalled corporatisation (and eventual privatisation) plans for KTMB. The transport minister mentioned from Italy that it might be useful to bring in competitors for KTMB. Presumably the presence of more competition would lead to improved service.

In sharp contrast, the Finance Ministry is announcing a different revamp of Prasarana and RapidKL. Under this proposal, RapidKL (and presumably, RapidPenang) would become a division within Prasarana.

Integrating Prasarana and RapidKL is supposedly going to help find savings which will allow the company to be more profitable. It is also being proposed that Prasarana will integrate the KL Monorail and have RapidKL operate it.

The irony here is that the Transport Ministry and the Finance Ministry seem to have completely different ideas on how to oversee and manage public transport. The Transport Ministry wants more companies and more competition, while the Finance Ministry is looking at fewer companies and reduced overhead costs.

But what is being forgotten here is that all these planned ‘revamps’ at the management level are doing nothing to improve the actual, day-to-day public transport services. It seems that the Transport Ministry and Finance Ministry have been too busy planning revamps to ensure that there would be enough lines, enough buses and trains, and enough employees to operate the services.

And while these revamps are occurring, it is likely that employees of RapidKL and Prasarana and KTMB will be spending time worrying about the security of their jobs, instead of continuing with their duty to improve public transport. As the new revamp occurs, lots of time will be wasted with office and ministry politics, administrative changes, etc. One wonders if there will be enough time to focus on improving planning and operations.

We should also consider that the proposed Transport Commission has not even been set up yet. So, why is there a rush to revamp the management structure of KTMB and Prasarana and RapidKL? There is no point in making the effort to revamp these organisations only to have it undone by the new Transport Commission.

The fact that people still describe RapidKL as a ‘loss-making company’ is a true disappointment. RapidKL makes losses because it operates decent public transport services. It should be spending more money and losing more money, albeit responsibly, so that we can see better public transport services.

If we start focusing on profits instead of service, then we will lose sight of the very simple fact that public transport is for the public. And if we start focusing on corporate revamps, we will forget that there is only one revamp that really matters - the one that makes public transport the responsibility of a select parliamentary committee, answerable to Parliament and the rakyat .