Buses can replace MRT cheaply, says Transit

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 21 — The Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) should be shelved in favour of a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, which can achieve the same target of reducing traffic congestion but at a fraction of the cost, says a transport advocacy group.

Association for the Improvement of Mass Transit (Transit) chairman Muhammad Zulkarnain Hamzah told The Malaysian Insider that the government's claim that every developed city needed an MRT system was an exaggeration as even in Singapore, statistics showed that passenger travels via the city-state's underground rail system paled in comparison to the usage of buses.

According to Singapore's figures from 2010, Zulkarnain noted that only 1.9 million of passenger trips were recorded in the city's MRT stations while three million trips were made by bus.

“So meanwhile, we want an MRT system that SPAD (Land Public Transport Commission) said in its public display and roadshow could ferry some 60,000 passengers per hour but have they thought of how the trips can be further dispersed by means of using the buses?” he said in an interview.

The traffic consultant explained that the BRT would entail minor development of the present main road arteries where dedicated bus lines would facilitate the increase of passenger flow from one point to another and at the same time decrease traffic congestion.

Zulkarnain said at the macro level, rapid transit lines could be allocated on roads leading towards the city and looping the Klang Valley region.

At the same time, he added, the system would be fully integrated to serve the local transit lines to facilitate passenger travels from their homes to suburban centres and to the present rail links like the LRT and from thereon to the city centre.

“Because if you look at the Government Transformation Plan (GTP), they plan for high-capacity transit lines for the city centre and within these nodes, they will hit the suburban city centres... but the feeder buses will only serve those travelling towards the city centre. So why don't we just fix that?

“The feeder buses, instead of merely functioning as feeder buses towards the MRT stations, they can also function as local rapid transit systems whereby people from the housing areas, who want to travel to the suburban centres and not just to Kuala Lumpur, can use these buses,” he said.

Zulkarnain added that the construction of a new rail system would also be significantly more costly than developing a BRT.

He estimated that the cost of construction for 1km of an underground MRT rail could reach up to RM1 billion while 1km of the BRT would only cost up to RM20 million.

He cited the example of the BRT in Bogota, Columbia, which records passenger travels of more than 20,000 people per direction per hour.

In comparison, if the lanes were purely dedicated for cars, especially single occupancy vehicles, a maximum of only 2,000 people per direction per hour can be reached, he said.

“So if you dedicate lanes for buses or even trams, you can achieve 10 times more of what you can achieve with the car. And meanwhile, you can build 1km of an underground MRT but with the BRT, you can build at least 50km.

“The BRT can achieve the standards that the MRT hopes to achieve but at a fraction of the cost,” he claimed.

Zulkarnain said that the BRT could be developed on high-speed traffic highways like the Federal Highway, Silk, or even the New Pantai Expressway.

When the lines hit the present rail stations, he said, at least three to four dedicated lanes should be allocated for the buses to allow pick-up, drop-off and passing through, to decrease build-up of traffic at the station.

The BRT lines, he said, could also stop at interchange rail stations like Pasar Seni or KL Sentral where commuters could then move on to utilise the present train network.

“So with this, you can actually serve more people, build more travel corridors, achieve your goals set with the MRT by utilising the present transport network and without having to fork out too much of taxpayers’ money to improve the system,” he said.

At the same time, Zulkarnain warned that to implement such a system, the government still needed to ensure it used a holistic approach to developing the network.

This, he said, meant that proper thought should be given as to how the BRT could integrate with the present rail system like the LRT and the KTM Komuter and the local structure plans and how transit-oriented development (TOD) could be implemented at the present train stations.

The TOD, explained Zulkarnain, is the principle of ensuring that the areas surrounding the train stations are “people-based” with business activities that do not require the public to use their personal transports.

“You want them to use the public transport, right? So when people walk out of the stations, in their immediate surroundings, you should not have car workshops or some kedai cat (paint shops), which are generally businesses that require people to use their cars.

“This is what is happening now... and you see congested roads because people are there with their cars parked on the curbs to patronise these shops.

“I am talking about people-based activities... look at KLCC for example. You have everything there... hotels, walkways, so many shops... people don't need their cars. They just walk right into convenience,” he said.

He added that this meant that areas surrounding the stations should be relatively high-density which would enable the train stations to be fully utilised and the problem of urban sprawl to be contained.

“The MRT is supposedly needed to solve the problem of urban sprawling, which is a phenomenon that is caused by the country's present land use planning.

“Our present system cultivates a more car-oriented environment and so what we have been doing is that we have been constructing more and more highways which actually do not solve the problem of bottlenecks around the city centre.

“All you do is really pave the way for the people to arrive faster at these bottlenecks,” he said.

TOD, he added, would help to contain this problem as focus would be given on developing the present areas surrounding the current train stations.

“So then you have urban renewal instead of urban sprawling and this is important to create compact cities. You can then control this sprawl and urbanites will be able to carry out their activities outside of the city centre,” he said.

Zulkarnain noted that Transit has been constantly engaging with the government on the city's urban transport woes since its inception in 2007.

“We have also given them our proposals. But then all of a sudden, the MRT project came out and they are pushing through with it.

“It is a big surprise to us because how come the government has not even completed its integrated public transport masterplan but yet jumped the gun and announced the MRT? Where is the masterplan?” he said.

He claimed that it was likely that the past failures in the Putra LRT and Star LRT and even the KTM Komuter would be repeated with the MRT.

“And now we are talking of almost RM40 billion to be spent for the MRT. Before such a project is implemented, there has to be sufficient planning and integration with the present rail and road system,” he said.

The MRT system is touted as the most expensive construction project ever undertaken in the country and initial estimates have put the cost at about RM36 billion although officials from SPAD have said that it is too early to disclose the actual cost.

The proposed alignment map is up for public viewing until May 14 at seven locations across the city.

They are Kuala Lumpur City Hall, Petaling Jaya City Council, Shah Alam City Council, Selayang Municipal Council, Kajang Municipal Council as well as the Bangsar LRT station and the SPAD office in Menara Dayabumi.

The public can provide their feedback on the project via email to feedback@kvmrt.com.my or through the SPAD toll-free line at 1-800-82-6868.

The detailed environmental assessment impact report has been uploaded for public viewing at the Department of Environment’s website.