Think big and drive a smaller car

 

Many people got into their cars recently to welcome the re-opening of the economy after the uncertainties of the past 18 months, driving out of the Klang Valley to the highways heading north, south and east of the Peninsula.

In Sabah, from Kota Kinabalu and Penampang, they went to Ranau and the highlands of Kundasang for a change of air.

This is only the first milestone after what might be the last of the Covid-19 pandemic. But we have many more milestones until 2030 – 10 years to change our lifestyles so that climate change doesn’t throw up more viruses and losses from extreme weather.

We have to reduce our production of carbon dioxide. As responsible Malaysians with a driving and motorcycling culture, our challenge is to reduce our carbon footprint by 10% or 20% in 10 years.

Does that mean less recreational driving? No, but it should mean that we consume fewer resources when we do things.

It might mean driving smaller cars and using more public transport.

I don’t think it’s so difficult if we put our minds to this urgent and important objective.

Worldwide, the most efficient transport is public transport. Malaysia has pumped in plenty of resources in the form of Prasarana, an agency under the finance ministry that operates urban public transport.

The question is whether Prasarana’s urban public transport services can be made as user friendly as public transport in Singapore which enjoys high ridership?

I think people would use more of the public transport if the last mile connectivity from the house to the MRT or bus station was more customer focussed. We can say that shuttle buses are too few and too far apart.

Also, the principle is that customers shouldn’t be expected to walk more than 500 metres from their house to a bus stop and they shouldn’t have to wait more than 10 minutes at peak times and 20 minutes off-peak.

Public transport between Peninsular Malaysia, East Malaysia and Borneo should also be subsidised as a public good. There used to be a Feri Malaysia service so that Malaysians could afford family travel between East and West Malaysia. It was very popular but was unprofitable and shut down after a few years.

A ferry service should be resumed and subsidised by the government as a public utility. Two of Sabah’s heavyweight politicians – Jeffrey Kitingan and Maximus Ongkili – co-wrote a chapter in “Sabah 25 years later 1963-1988” where they argued that “reducing the cost of East-West travel to promote national integration is a sound justification,”.

Improved connectivity with Sabah and Sarawak, each with land and sea connections to neighbouring provinces of Kalimantan, would also be synergistic with the robust growth of mineral-rich Indonesian Borneo.

Likewise there should be a ferry connection between Penang and the mainland instead of a subsea tunnel or a third bridge. The ferry should be powered by green hydrogen fuelling a diesel engine converted to run on hydrogen.

Earlier this year, Norway launched the world’s largest all-electric ferry, a battery-driven vessel named Basto Electric. It is built to carry 600 passengers and 200 cars or 24 trucks across a 10km route, a 30-minute ride, 20 to 24 times a day. Two other ferries will also be converted from diesel to electric.

While Prasarana is the finance ministry’s responsibility, as individuals we can make our own efforts to reduce our carbon footprint when travelling.

If travelling on work, the sensible thing to do is to use more fuel-efficient cars and to switch to a motorcycle in good weather, as well as use public transport as much as we can, sacrificing convenience for social objectives.

As for electric cars, they will be too expensive except for the T20 (upper-income) group. The T20 can afford the Kona EV which will soon be launched in the RM200,000 price bracket.

A new supply line of electric vehicles is also on the way, courtesy of a Pakatan Harapan leader and former deputy minister of international trade, who removed the quota of Open APs (approved permits) for qualified companies.

One of them is the Westar group which offers its battery-electric Honda e for RM210,000.

As for the rest of us, our minimum duty is to maintain our cars so that they operate efficiently as designed, check our tyre pressures weekly so that they are overfilled rather than leaving them underfilled and thereby increasing rolling resistance and using more fuel.

Middle-class people can do the following over the next three years:

• If buying a new car, consider a battery-electric hybrid from Japan or Korea such as a Toyota Prius hybrid or a Hyundai Ioniq.
• Or consider a super fuel-efficient new generation diesel such as the Mazda CX-8 for a larger SUV.
• If buying a used car over the next three years, consider a Toyota Prius hybrid. A well-maintained hybrid is the most fuel-efficient vehicle second-hand car in the market, with some good ones starting from RM35,000.

 -FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.