Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar said the committee should be made up of both government and opposition MPs.

“The committee must be the backbone, so that we can make improvements to the system,” she said.

Nurul said relevant bodies should be available to deliberate and explain to members of the committee the functions and changes made to improve public transportation. The committee could also engage stakeholders for feedback on the workings of the system and ways to improve it, she added.

She was speaking to reporters after taking a MRT ride today from the Taman Tun Dr Ismail station to the Sungai Buloh station.

She said having a parliamentary committee would mean better oversight of the costs and functioning of public transport systems, especially those involving huge sums of taxpayer money.

“We want to make sure these are cost efficient,” she added, pointing out that public transport systems always required large subsidies.

Mammoth projects, such as the MRT, should be better scrutinised, she added.

Also, she said, there was a need to look into the fare structures of all public transportation.

“Commuters should not be charged exorbitant fees. On the fare structures, we would like to know the formula used. These are some of the issues that can be discussed in such a committee.”

Also present were Batu MP Tian Chua and PKR communications director Fahmi Fadzil.

Tian Chua said apart from having a good MRT project, the connectivity should also be looked into.

“There should be sufficient park-and-ride services as well as feeder bus services. The MRT operator should look into building more facilities for commuters.”

The first phase of the SBK MRT line started operations on Dec 16, covering 21km from Sungai Buloh to the Semantan station in Damansara.

The rest of the Sungai Buloh-Kajang track is scheduled to open next July. It will include an underground section in downtown Kuala Lumpur.

Upon completion of the second phase, the line will cover a distance of 51km and have 31 stations.