After Prasarana Malaysia Bhd announced a new distance-based fare scheme for the LRT and Monorail services that it operates, some netizens mused that it might be cheaper to simply drive to their destinations.

At first glance, this appears to be true.

For example, a car such as the Perodua Myvi (1.5-litre engine variant; automatic transmission) could travel about 13km with a litre of fuel under Kuala Lumpur’s traffic conditions.

This works out to about 16 sen per km at current RON95 fuel prices of RM2.05 per litre.

In contrast, each LRT and Monorail ticket attracts a 70 sen flag fall and 10 sen levy by the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD).

Then, the rate starts at 23 sen per km for the first 4km for a commuter using the Smart 30 monthly pass, which has the lowest rates but also has a monthly fee of RM10.

The rate for Monorail services using the same pass is much higher at 47 sen per km for the first 4km.

In both cases, longer trips have a cheaper rate.

According to Prasarana, these new rates will be introduced on Dec 2, while the new monthly pass will be introduced on Nov 15 alongside the Smart 7 weekly pass.

Nevertheless, the distance rate of an LRT ride (excluding the monthly pass fee, flag fall, and SPAD levy) would only begin to match the fuel cost of driving for segments of a trip that are more than 9km from the station where the trip started.

This eventually goes down to a mere seven sen, but only applies for segments of a trip more than 24km away from the station of origin.

For Monorail rides, the lowest rate on the Smart 30 pass is 29 sen per km, which applies for the segment from 4.1km to 9km away from the station for origin.

A closer look, however, would reveal a more complicated picture.

Free parking slot

Firstly, once the cost of the wear and tear on Myvi’s tyres (RM175 each over 80,000km) and scheduled maintenance (RM2723.09 over 100,000km) are factored in, the cost per km of driving rises to 19 sen per km.

The Myvi is used here as an example due to the popularity of the car and its many variants among Malaysian drivers.

Thus, assuming that one is to commute 15km twice a day, for 20 days a month, the monthly cost to drive to work is RM116.20.

But via LRT and using the Smart 30 monthly pass, the sum comes to RM154, including the flag fall, the SPAD levy, and the fee for the monthly pass.

In other words, if one is diligent or fortunate enough to avoid tolls and have a free parking slot available at work, driving to work would come up to RM37.80 cheaper each month.

Looking at it this way, commuting to work via LRT only made sense for trips more than 27km each way.

At this point, due to the lower fares for the further segments of an LRT ride, the cost of taking the LRT becomes cheaper than driving even despite the flag fall, the levy and the fee for the monthly pass.

It comes to RM209.16 for driving versus RM206 for the LRT – a difference of RM3.16.

The gap then widens in the LRT’s favour for longer and longer trips.

As for the Monorail service, there is only about 9km of track.

If one were to commute the entire length of it, it should cost RM174 per month and is apparently more expensive than driving those distances.

Fact of life

If one were to pass through even one tolled road while driving to work, however, driving’s apparent advantage over LRT completely disappears.

Even if one were to assume a relatively low fare of RM2.50 each way, that adds RM100 to the monthly transport budget.

Create line charts

Judging by the public outrage over Housing, Local Government and Urban-Wellbeing Minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan’s suggestion to wake up early to avoid traffic and avoid tolls, it would appear that many Malaysians find tolls to be an inevitable fact of life.

Parking? If that costs RM5 per day, for example, that would add up to RM200 of extra expenses per month.

Suddenly, driving looks much less palatable now, but what about the cost of owning the car in the first place?

The monthly instalments of a seven-year loan for a Myvi could cost over RM600, and then there is insurance (around RM100 per month), road tax (around RM7.5 per month) and major repairs to worry about.

At this point, LRT becomes a cheaper option even if one were to add a taxi ride to each trip.

There are other realities to bear in mind as well, which would be harder to estimate.

First is the fact that the LRT and Monorail lines run from the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur and neighbouring Selangor straight through the city centre.

It avoids congestion by running above or below it.

Air-conditioned comfort

For a car to avoid congestion, it would have to drive around it (perhaps through a tolled road), hence increasing the distance travelled and the associated costs.

Alternatively, a driver may simply drive through the traffic jam, which would drastically hamper fuel mileage – again driving up costs.

Or perhaps, one might opt to drive when there is no congestion, but that might not be convenient.

Secondly, driving is more flexible than taking an LRT ride, and more likely or not it can bring a motorists to exactly where he needs to be in air-conditioned comfort.

For an LRT or Monorail ride, things can get very uncomfortable during rush hour as commuters fill up whatever space that they can find in the train.

In addition, some commuters may find that they would need another mode of transport to get to and from the LRT stations, which can be inconvenient especially if it means walking during heavy rain.

On the other hand, driving demands the full attention of the driver, and can be dangerous after a tiring day at work.

As for the LRT or Monorail commuter, one only needs to pay enough attention to his surroundings to guard his belongings and make sure to disembark at the correct station.

And perhaps, if there is just enough room to break out a smartphone or book, one might even find something amusing to do while passing time at the commute.