Updates #64

1. Article: No bus, so Khairy walks to Parliament House (The Star) – TRANSIT learned that Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin attempted to use public transport to get to Parliament and was forced to walk from Masjid Jamek to Pasar Seni to find a bus. Unable to find the bus he was forced to walk to Parliament. Idzan Ismail of PJ wrote this letter, Ease transport woes (The Star) in response.

TRANSIT: RapidKL seems to have tweeted about their B115 bus route (hourly service) recently but we can imagine that signage & information are quite poor especially if you are not familiar with public transport. Perhaps Rembau would like to get onto the Board of Directors of RapidKL or the Parliamentary Committee for Public Transport (oh wait, we do not have one).

2. Article: Some ideas not included in draft KL Local Plan (The Star) – an update on the updated KLCity2020 Draft Local Plan, which has been revised to accommodate public “feedback” (mostly objections) and government plans for Greater KL / Klang Valley.

TRANSIT: Note the comments from Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng about the proposal for the LRT and MRT – as well as his comment that the KL Draft Plan (updated) and the Federal Government’s Greater KL / Klang Valley plans are “conflicting each other.”

3. Article: From Ipoh Straight to KLIA (The Star) – SPAD launched the new one-ticket service from Ipoh to KLIA via ETS and KLIA Ekspres (plus CityLiner bus via Salak Tinggi ERL Station for journey to LCCT). KTMB, with collaboration with KLIA Ekspres and Cityliner, introduced a quicker option for Ipoh’s air travelers to fly from KLIA/LCCT. Promo fares are RM65 and RM42.50 to KLIA and LCCT respectively.

TRANSIT: It is good to see that there are more choices for travelers. One may opt for cheapest mode (express bus from Medan Gopeng to KL at around RM13, and spend another RM2 for RapidKL’s Hentian Duta shuttle number B115 to Pasar Seni LRT and another RM1 from Pasar Seni LRT to KL Sentral LRT, and from there take the Aerobus to LCCT for RM8 or Airport Coach to KLIA for RM12) or the slightly slower mode (nonstop express bus from Medan Gopeng, Ipoh to KLIA/LCCT) for around RM42.

But then we wish to see more realistic public transport launches from SPAD that really shows big stride in meeting the mobility needs of the rakyat since they first start to assume the stewardship of public transport in Malaysia. Apart from cutting Ipoh-KLIA travel by half an hour, there is nothing major about the launch.

How about public transport in general for Ipohites, has there been any improvements in public transport through better transit network designs, accessible bus stops and buses, same level playing field between operators, and transit priority projects?

4. Opinion letter: Bikers blocking up zebra crossing (The Star) – A reader highlights on dangers facing by pedestrians in Kuala Lumpur. The walkability in Kuala Lumpur is generally made worse by poor demarcation of crossings by the local council and lack of enforcement, combined with apathy by motorcycle riders that bunches together in front of the queue of waiting cars at red lights, eating up spaces for pedestrian to cross the streets and leaving these pity bystanders with harmful emissions to breathe, upon green lights.

TRANSIT: Bravo to the writer, who, unlike others, bother to critique the state of apathy among Malaysians on respects that motorized vehicle users owe towards the pedestrians! Remember, walking is the biggest mean to access transit; without it, no amount of transit improvement can effect to anything. Right now, the effort seems to be concentrating on building few, yet exclusive encapsulated walkways between selected properties in Kuala Lumpur.

One should not go too far to research on our serious lack of attention to the needs of the pedestrian. To scan on how bad is the perception of walking in Kuala Lumpur, just check out on these two separate google image searches : pejalan kaki di Kuala Lumpur and pedestrians in London. Sadly, our interest in ‘pedestrian’ is confined to sensational news on gruesome hit and run accidents, and nothing on walkabout audits and comments on how can Kuala Lumpur be a great place to walk in and to live in.