The best way to understand public transportation is to have an overview of the way that people use public transit services. Once this is achieved, then it is possible to plan public transportation networks that will effectively meet their needs.

It must be understood, that public transportation is a complicated entity. It has multiple functions in a society.

One function is a mobility service. Public transit gives people the opportunity to be mobile without using private transportation. These people may be unable or unwilling to use private transportation for a variety of reasons. There can be assumptions that this is because they cannot afford to own private transportation but this is not always the case. Poverty and other economic considerations are not the only reasons why people choose to use public transportation and public transit.

public transportation 260706 star lrt Another function is a development planning tool. Public transportation moves large numbers of people who simply could not be moved using private transportation. Public transportation is also more efficient than private transportation in terms of the use of resources. Basically, the buses and trains carry more people than private cars. In addition, the buses and trains keep moving, while a private car needs a place to stay (e.g. a car port or parking space in a parking garage) while it is not being used. Parking spaces cost money to build.

Ideally, public transportation should be integrated into planning and development, rather than afterwards (usually in order to solve traffic congestion problems). This is because public transportation has a greater capacity to absorb increasing volume, while roads do not.

The final function of public transportation is to operate a business. This makes public transport a business and the passengers are paying customers. Sadly, customers of public transport operators are not often treated very well and often do not get value for their money.

Important questions

With this improved understanding of what public transportation offers, it is time to ask a few important questions about the public transportation and public transit services that we want.

The first question is "who are the passengers and what do they want?"

The answer is: potentially, everyone. Everyone can and should use public transportation and public transit to get to their destinations. Of course, there are times when using private transportation is necessary, but people should at least be able to see public transit and public transportation as a reasonable option.

Currently in Malaysia, not enough people see public transportation and public transit as a viable transportation choice because they believe it to be unreliable and inconsistent, as well as potentially unsafe. There is also an association between public transportation and public transit and the "lower income group" which is perpetuated by the government and private corporations (especially those that are attempting to encourage driving).

As long as this myth continues, and as long as public transit is inconsistent and unreliable, a vast majority of people in Malaysia will continue to believe (for whatever reason) that public transit and public transportation are simply not for them.

The second question is "what will encourage people to use public transit regularly?"

The answer is: reliable, consistent, convenient, quality service. Fares are generally not a consideration for the majority of transit users who are more interested in being able to get to where they want, easily and without major hassle and without waiting too long. Transit users do not want to get lost, feel uncomfortable or fear for their safety or security.

rapid kl bus public transportation 021107 To offer a service that meets these needs, some general guidelines include keeping public transit no more than 400m away from people, offering bus schedules and "next bus" or "next train" information, and maintaining frequencies no greater than 15 minutes between buses. One guideline that can be used is the 15:15 ratio, meaning that ideally, a person should walk no more than 15 minutes to reach a bus stop and wait no more than 15 minutes for a bus. Of course, given the level of heat and other weather related factors in Malaysia, the ratio should be 10:10.

Other than that, it would help if the government and public transit providers actually increased their expectations, rather than keeping them low. Anytime RapidKL says they are "catering to the mass-market" or "trying to operate a sustainable business" they are presenting the idea that they "can’t" do what the people want them to do.

If you expect less of yourself, then people will not expect much from you. But if more is expected of public transportation, and the providers deliver the reliable, consistent and convenient service that passengers want, there will be a great demand for public transport.

The third question is, "what is the role of mass-rapid transit?"

The answer is: The role of mass-rapid transit is to help move people and avoid congestion. Generally, mass-transit bypasses road transport and expressway networks, moving more people around faster than the existing road networks. Mass-transit has to be designed for maximum efficiency and reduced congestion. This means that networks should be designed as completely as possible, to allow multiple trips in multiple directions. Having multiple routes and multiple nodes (interchange stations) within the network is also important because it disperses people quickly and easily, reducing congestion.

In the case of the Klang Valley the existing mass-transit networks radiate out from the city centre to the suburban areas. This can be seen in many other cities throughout the world. However, the cities with the best mass-transit networks are gradually expanding their networks and developing complete networks. This means that along with the radiating ("in-and-out") lines there must also be concentric ("ring") lines that circle around urban areas.

Within the Klang Valley, the KL Monorail is a line that is concentric. From KL Sentral, it passes south of the city centre, then through and around the east side of the city centre and "Golden Triangle" area. However, the Klang Valley needs more concentric and radial lines. The completion of the KL monorail as an "inner-ring" line around the city centre would be a significant head start.

The fourth question is, "when and where should we build mass-transit?"

The answer is: mass-transit builds on existing, successful public transit networks. This means that you cannot have successful mass-transit networks without successful public transportation or public transit already in place. If there is already a successful network or successful route in place, then there are customers using this network. This guarantees the success of the mass-transit projects because there is an existing pool of customers and room for long-term growth.

As long as we stick to the idea that "if we build it, they will come" then we are setting ourselves up for failure. We cannot build mass-transit to connect every "low income" and "high density" area to the city centre. We also cannot build public transit in a way that chases behind development.

Generally, mass-transit should be built as the last stage in a development process that sees increased demand for public transportation. This process starts with basic public transportation, using buses and trams in Class-C right-of-way (operating in mixed traffic). It then continues with "higher-order" and "rapid" public transportation using larger buses and trams in Class-B right-of-way (linear separation). Finally the "mass transit" stage of public transportation uses high capacity transit vehicles in a Class-A right of way (grade separation).

Public transport (especially mass-transit) should be built in heavily urbanised areas first. Mass-transit built in heavily urbanised, high density areas will see higher demand, faster cost recovery, and greater returns on investment. In contrast, mass-transit built in suburban, lower density areas will see lower demand, slower cost recover, and lower returns on investment.

The proposed extensions of existing LRT lines to suburban areas are an unwise choice to make. The high cost of construction and lower cost recovery and return on investment will be compounded by the cost of not constructing mass transit in urban areas.

Conclusion

It is strongly recommended that the government engage in a proper, long-term development process for public transportation. The focus should be to build for the needs of tomorrow, rather than for the wants of today. In order to accomplish this goal, there must be a significant restructuring within the civil service and a restructuring of our attitudes to public transportation.

One important step to take is to put public transportation into the hands of parliament rather than the Cabinet. A multi-party parliamentary committee on public transportation will allow for more open discussion of problems and solutions and better solutions will be found.

The federal government must also create a National Public Transport Authority to take over the regulation and control of public transportation from the CVLB, which has been unable to prove itself. The NPTA will outline vision, strategy, and standards for public transportation and create Local Public Transport Authorities to carry out this vision and strategy and maintain these standards. The Finance ministry will provide funding for the improvement of public transportation with Prasarana continuing its role of buying and owning public transportation assets.

The Local Public Transport Authorities would provide oversight and regulation on a regional and local level. They would control the bus routes and the bus operators would be selected using a competitive open tendering process. The open process would allow for more operators to provide service, while the increased competition would be an initiative to maintain the quality of service.

Time limited contracts and open tenders would empower the government and the public to develop a more improved, more stable, more reliable, more consistent, more accountable, and higher quality public transportation system.

Public transportation in Malaysia is in a state of crisis caused by poor planning and regulation and a lack of proper enforcement. Until these problems are addressed at the government and civil service, there will be little or no improvements. It must be understood that more financial investments will not solve the existing problems. Unless the organization, planning and regulation issues are resolved, the state of public transportation in Malaysia will go from bad to worse.

Part Two

Part One

MOAZ YUSUF AHMAD, a regular user of public transport, is deeply concerned that government plans to encourage the use of public transport will ultimately fail because of poor planning and lack of support from the public.