Make public transport the first choice for travel

LETTER | Fomca fully supports the National Transportation Policy which focuses on “providing mobility that meets the expectations of the rakyat”. Fomca calls on the government to fully implement the thrusts of the National Transport Policy including the enhancing of the first and last-mile connectivity and strengthening an affordable and sustainable public transport system. Also, real-time transport data would assist the consumer in planning their travel and would certainly motivate more consumers to use the public transport system.

Currently, the use of public transport is low. While it cannot be denied that the usage of the LRT and MRT has indeed been increasing, the data on the use of bus systems has not been clearly shown. Further, the data seems to focus on the Klang Valley and is not nationwide.

Based on Fomca’s feedback from consumers, many housing areas in the Klang Valley, as well as both state capitals and smaller towns, lack an efficient bus system. This has caused tremendous suffering to the rakyat. While the minister of transport has encouraged the use of the bus system, he has been unable to assure that all key housing and urban communities throughout the nation have actual access to a fully-functioning efficient bus system.

The priority of the government should be to ensure the availability of an efficient bus system; further, it should have good connectivity. Most important of all, it must be reliable and sufficiently frequent both at peak and off-peak hours to meet the needs of the rakyat. Finally, certainly, the system should be safe and affordable.

It is suggested that a national audit of the bus transport system is undertaken to ascertain which the areas are still lacking in any form of public transport. And where there is public transport, how reliable and connected it is. Then either the local government or through engagement with the private sector, an effective and efficient system can be planned and implemented.

Fomca strongly believes that the priority of the government should be enhancing and strengthening public transport. As stated in the National Transport Policy, with an increasingly ageing population and urbanisation, public transport becomes even more crucial. With increased usage, the subsidies necessary to sustain an efficient public transport system will decrease.

The government should be utilising its resources to strengthen public transport instead of focusing on purchasing urban toll systems. In an economy where consumers are suffering from increasing cost of living, where transport is a major component of household spending, the focus should be on public transport to reduce the cost of living. It is estimated that households on an average spend about 10 – 15 percent of this household income on transport. Next to food and housing, transport is the third major expense. The billions of ringgit to be used to purchase the urban tolls should instead be spent on public transport both in the Klang Valley as well as the state capitals and smaller towns.

Further, the petrol price will soon be floated. Obviously, this means additional expenditure for car owners. The strategy then should be to provide an efficient public transport system that will incentivise car owners to take public transport and abandon their cars. That is, as stated in the NTP, the aim should be “to encourage the population to adopt public transport as a primary means of transport”. But the public transport system must be efficient, reliable, affordable and safe. Then more car owners will switch to public transport. Thus lowering their cost of living.

There are of course other social, community and environmental benefits to a good public transport system - reducing traffic congestion, reducing parking congestion, reducing traffic accidents, reducing the building of road and parking infrastructure costs, reducing excessive energy consumption as well as pollution emissions.

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.