Pursuing the My Rapid Transit (MRT) project without finalising the government's public transport masterplan will be a premature move, a public transport improvement advocacy group says.
At a public forum last night, Association for the Improvement of Mass Transit (Transit) representative Rajiv Rishyakaran said the masterplan would have identified the framework for an integrated public transport system.
The masterplan, he explained, was necessary to provide a holistic solution to Klang Valley's traffic woes by synergising the various public transport systems, since the MRT was only one component of the entire transport network.
"We gave (Pemandu) a lot of feedback on how to feed the bus systems, improve connectivity and so on. You need connectivity, not just three or four rail lines criss-crossing one another," Rajiv said.
He said the government had spent a significant amount of money on foreign consultants to draft the masterplan and it was therefore strange that the MRT project was announced first.
Last December, Land Public Transport Commission (Spad) chairperson Syed Hamid Albar announced that the National Public Transport Policy Framework and the Greater KL-Klang Valley Public Transport Masterplan would be completed by September this year.
Multi-model system
Rajiv was speaking at a DAP organised forum on 'MRT - Are Malaysians taken for a ride?' in Kuala Lumpur last night. Nearly all the 200 seats at the venue were filled.
Traffic planner Goh Bok Yen told the audience that the way forward for the Klang Valley was a complex multi-model transport system involving the coordination of six forms of public transport.
Thus far, Goh said, there has been no clear indication from the government as to how the existing public transport networks of buses, taxis, the LRT and KTM Komuter would be coordinated with the MRT.
"Even when the MRT is completed, it will still be a fixed track system. You require other modes to support the system. A fixed track system cannot survive without a good feeder," he said.
The government had so far not been forthcoming in explaining such matters, therefore hampering efforts by members of the public and other stakeholders from giving proper feedback.
Recognising that there had been a three month public display of the MRT project plan, he said that some information was still lacking.
Bus system revamp a must
Doing some research, Goh found numbers in the MRT Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report, which he said were likely to entice public scrutiny.
For example, he pointed out, the EIA stated that eight out of 35 stations would be servicing 10,000 people and below.
"The lowest is in Sungai Buloh. Do we need a station to cater for an estimated 2,500 people? And they call it a park-and-ride service," said Goh.
In such areas, a much cheaper option, such as using an articulated bus would suffice, Goh said, and he went on to question the justification for the alignment of the MRT tracks.
Main forum organiser Tony Pua, who is also the MP for Petaling Jaya Utara, reiterated the need for a multi-model integration of public transport networks in order to resolve the Klang Valley traffic problems.
Citing the experiences of Hong Kong and Singapore, Pua explained that both cities had thousand of buses to complement their rail networks.
"But in the Klang Valley, there are about 900 buses, that is, assuming all of them are working at once," he said.
At a public forum last night, Association for the Improvement of Mass Transit (Transit) representative Rajiv Rishyakaran said the masterplan would have identified the framework for an integrated public transport system.
The masterplan, he explained, was necessary to provide a holistic solution to Klang Valley's traffic woes by synergising the various public transport systems, since the MRT was only one component of the entire transport network."We gave (Pemandu) a lot of feedback on how to feed the bus systems, improve connectivity and so on. You need connectivity, not just three or four rail lines criss-crossing one another," Rajiv said.
He said the government had spent a significant amount of money on foreign consultants to draft the masterplan and it was therefore strange that the MRT project was announced first.
Last December, Land Public Transport Commission (Spad) chairperson Syed Hamid Albar announced that the National Public Transport Policy Framework and the Greater KL-Klang Valley Public Transport Masterplan would be completed by September this year.
Multi-model system
Rajiv was speaking at a DAP organised forum on 'MRT - Are Malaysians taken for a ride?' in Kuala Lumpur last night. Nearly all the 200 seats at the venue were filled.
Traffic planner Goh Bok Yen told the audience that the way forward for the Klang Valley was a complex multi-model transport system involving the coordination of six forms of public transport.
Thus far, Goh said, there has been no clear indication from the government as to how the existing public transport networks of buses, taxis, the LRT and KTM Komuter would be coordinated with the MRT. "Even when the MRT is completed, it will still be a fixed track system. You require other modes to support the system. A fixed track system cannot survive without a good feeder," he said.
The government had so far not been forthcoming in explaining such matters, therefore hampering efforts by members of the public and other stakeholders from giving proper feedback.
Recognising that there had been a three month public display of the MRT project plan, he said that some information was still lacking.
Bus system revamp a must
Doing some research, Goh found numbers in the MRT Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report, which he said were likely to entice public scrutiny.
For example, he pointed out, the EIA stated that eight out of 35 stations would be servicing 10,000 people and below. "The lowest is in Sungai Buloh. Do we need a station to cater for an estimated 2,500 people? And they call it a park-and-ride service," said Goh.
In such areas, a much cheaper option, such as using an articulated bus would suffice, Goh said, and he went on to question the justification for the alignment of the MRT tracks.
Main forum organiser Tony Pua, who is also the MP for Petaling Jaya Utara, reiterated the need for a multi-model integration of public transport networks in order to resolve the Klang Valley traffic problems.
Citing the experiences of Hong Kong and Singapore, Pua explained that both cities had thousand of buses to complement their rail networks.
"But in the Klang Valley, there are about 900 buses, that is, assuming all of them are working at once," he said.
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