Think first before investing in more BRT lines, say experts

 Transport consultants say options such as improving existing services must also be considered.

Selangor is considering a proposal to expand the BRT beyond the 5.4km Sunway line, with Puchong, Glenmarie and Kwasa Damansara among the areas to be served.

PETALING JAYA:

Selangor should take more factors into consideration before rushing into building more bus rapid transit (BRT) lines, according to transport experts.

They said the state must first assess whether there is a need for wider BRT coverage, whether existing public transport services are meeting current demand, and whether they are well integrated.

Wan Agyl Wan Hassan, founder and senior adviser of transport advocacy group MY Mobility Vision, said the Selangor government could consider using BRT to complement ordinary and feeder bus services.

However, he told FMT that it should first identify travel patterns and gaps in existing services.

Last week, Selangor investment, trade and mobility committee chairman Ng Sze Han announced that the state government is mulling a plan to expand the BRT network beyond the 5.4km Sunway line, with a view to including Puchong, Glenmarie and Kwasa Damansara.

The state is also looking at lessons from Jakarta’s much larger BRT network.

The Sunway BRT, operated by Rapid KL, uses electric buses and runs on a dedicated elevated track.

Wan Agyl said some areas may only need better bus routes and more frequent services. Others may need dedicated bus lanes, while full BRT only makes sense where there is a demand.

“The objective should be a better public transport network. Identify where the network is broken first, then choose the right solution,” he said.

He said Selangor should also consider dedicated lanes at street level for BRT, leaving only sections at difficult junctions or bottlenecks elevated.

Transport planning consultant Goh Bok Yen pointed out that the Klang Valley already has enough public transport options. The bigger problem, he said, is that the MRT, LRT and bus services are not well integrated.

“We have the assets. We have the resources. But they more or less function in isolation,” he told FMT, adding that public transport should work as a unified system rather than as separate services.

Goh said feeder buses are still getting stuck in the same traffic as cars because there are too few bus lanes and little priority is given to buses at traffic lights.

He said this raises a bigger question for the authorities — are they prepared to give more road space to buses and less to private cars?

“Car use is still cheap and easy, and more urban highways continue to be built,” he noted.

But rather than dismiss the idea altogether, Goh conceded that BRT can still fill gaps between rail lines.

One example would be to extend the Sunway BRT from USJ towards Puchong, allowing it to connect with another LRT corridor, he said.

Transport academic Ahmad Farhan Sadullah said it is too early to say whether Puchong, Glenmarie or Kwasa Damansara are the right places for BRT without first studying where people are travelling to and from.

The Universiti Putra Malaysia lecturer said BRT carries fewer passengers than LRT or MRT and should therefore complement existing rail lines rather than compete with them.

One option, he said, is for BRT to bring passengers from densely populated areas not served by rail to a nearby LRT or MRT station, where they could continue their journey.

Farhan said cost and the availability of space are factors to consider when deciding whether BRT should be elevated or run at street level.

But if it is to run at street level, it must have its own lane and be separated from normal traffic.

“Otherwise, it would be little different from an ordinary bus service,” he added. - FMT