Kuala Lumpur and its satellites will experience a public transport revolution if the government can successfully implement plans for a mass rapid transit system under the 10 th Malaysia Plan (10MP).

Spanning a 20km radius from the city centre, the ambitious plan will integrate existing and planned public transport systems to boost use and reliability of public transport in Greater KL.

azlan The 156km-long system promises to handle a maximum of two million trips a day when fully operational, a significant leap from the current rate of 480,000 combined daily trips on the KTM Komuter, RapidKL and Monorail systems.

It is unclear how big a chunk the new system will take out of the RM2.8 billion total budget set aside to improve public transport nationwide, although it is stated that it will be carried out as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project.

The new system is mooted in tandem with increased capacity of Greater KL=s Komuter, light rail transit (LRT) and Monorail systems, apart from the establishment of a 49km bus rapid transit (BRT) system within Greater KL.

The LRT lines will be extended another 34km, on top of getting 35 new four-car trains that will raise the Kelana Jaya line's capacity to 98,000 passengers an hour from the current rate of 24,000.

An extension of the Monorail system is also being considered, while the Komuter service is expecting delivery of 38 new six-car electric multiple units by 2012.

Seamless extension across different modes

The plan will also focus on creating a seamless system across the different transport modes and operators, hinging on a cashless ticketing system that will be used by all 16 public transport operators in Greater KL.

NONE The various measures planned aim to push up the number of one-way journeys that can be completed within one hour and with three or less transfers between transport modes.

To enforce the changes, the government, through its Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD), will implement key performance indicators such as on-time performance, conditions of equipment and reliability based on a minimum service standard.

The ultimate goal of the upgrading blitz is to pull up public transport use from 12 percent in 2009 to 30 percent by the end of the 10MP in 2015, and depending on the success of the Greater KL initiatives, the plan will also be rolled out to other cities and urban areas nationwide.

 

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