Strengthening the bus transport system

LETTER | It is heartening to finally see the transport minister promoting the use of the bus system. While he has emphasised the need for consumers to use the bus system to reduce subsidies, public transport in an urban system is far more critical than that.

In relation to the cost of living, after food and housing expenses, transport makes up the third highest expenditure. Due to the inefficient and unreliable public transport currently, consumers are often forced to use their cars. It is estimated that households spend about 20 to 30 percent of their disposal income on private transport – instalments, petrol, services, maintenance, road tax, insurance, toll and parking charges. An efficient public transport will contribute substantial savings to the households.

The core of the public transport system is the bus system. It is the “last mile” of the system – that is from home to office, or home to an LRT station, or LRT station to the office. If the last mile of the public system is not reliable or worse, not available, then consumers may have to use their private cars or taxis, which are often not affordable for low and middle-income earners. 

Yet, the bus system has too often been ignored by policymakers. Too often, we are emphasising on the LRT and MRT but not on the last mile. Worse still, both in major and small towns, many communities have no bus service thus forcing the purchase and use of private cars.

For a public transport system to be popular, obviously it must be available. Fomca urges the Ministry of Transport to undertake an audit of how extensive the current bus system is. We could even start in Seremban. Which are the housing areas which have access to buses and which of the communities that have no buses plying their housing areas. A feasibility study can be undertaken to ensure a comprehensive bus system to ensure that all major housing areas are served by the bus system.

After the availability of the bus system, consumers would expect the buses to be reliable. Are they on time? For example, can the system be relied on to make sure I can reach my office on time? Or is it going to be a case where one day it is on time, the next day it is late? Reliability of the system is a critical issue in increasing bus usage.

In promoting public transport, these twelve components should be given consideration:

• Availability (when and where public transport is available) and coverage (the portion of a geographic area, the portion of common destinations in a community located within a reasonable distance of service)
  
  
• Frequency (how many trips are made each hour or day)
  
  
• Travel speed (absolute and relative to automobile travel)
  
  
• Reliability (how frequently the service follows published schedules)
  
  
• Integration (ease of transferring within the public transport system and with other travel modes)
  
  
• Price structure and payment options
  
  
• User comfort and security (including riding on, walking to and waiting for services)
  
  
• Accessibility (ease of reaching stations and stops, particularly by walking)
  
  
• Universal design (ability to accommodate diverse users with disabilities)
  
  
• Affordability (user costs relative to their income and other travel options)
  
  
• Information (ease of obtaining information about public transport services)
  
  
• Aesthetics (appearance of vehicles, waiting areas)

By building an efficient and effective public transport system, the government will not only ensure that consumers reduce their dependence on private cars and depend more on public transport and thus increasing their disposal income, it will reap the other benefits of a good public transport system including reducing traffic congestion, reducing parking congestion, reducing traffic accidents, reducing building of road and parking infrastructure costs, reducing excessive energy consumption as well as pollution emissions. 

Instead of spending billions on reducing toll charges, that money could be spent to upgrade the bus transport system.

The writer is chief executive officer, Fomca.

 The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.