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KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 - The bus transit system has not been written off
in favour of the Klang Valley mass rapid transit (KVMRT), the Land Public
Transport Commission (SPAD) chairman said.
Tan Sri
Syed Hamid Albar said it was untrue that SPAD had forgotten about buses
because half of all public transport users relied on buses and taxis for
their daily commute.
“There is no way the government is going to abandon the other side of
public transport,” he told reporters at the Integrated Bus Terminal here
today. |
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The former home minister pointed out that buses were still an integral
part of the public transport system in the Klang Valley as it was not
possible for commuters to get from one point to another using only the
KVMRT.
“We need feeder services, we need connectivity services,” he said.
Syed Hamid was responding to Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua’s statement
that improving the bus transit system should be a pre-requisite to the
proposed KVMRT as the multi-billion rail project itself could not solve
existing public transport woes.
Pua had expressed disappointment with SPAD for having ignored the bus
transit system, which he claimed was “critical” to ensure optimality of
the rail project.
The DAP man added that improving the bus transit system would only cost
RM1.8 billion, a fraction of the KVMRT’s estimated RM36 billion bill.
He also urge SPAD to provide a blueprint for Klang Valley bus services to
complement the KVMRT plan in order to “complete” the public transport
equation.
The MRT system entry point project (EPP) identified for the Greater Kuala
Lumpur/Klang Valley National Key Economic Area (NKEA) aims to increase
public transport modal share from 18 per cent to 40 per cent by 2020.
Initial estimates have put the MRT’s cost at a whopping RM36.6 billion,
making it one of the most expensive construction projects every undertaken
by the Malaysian government.
With the 40 per cent public transport modal share, the government hopes
that at least four million trips of the estimated total of 10 million will
be made using public transportation.
The remaining six million trips will continue to be made using private
vehicles.
Estimates place the daily ridership for the first KVMRT line from Sungai
Buloh to Kajang (SBK) at 442,000 passengers in its opening year, expected
to be in 2016.
The SBK 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.
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