“It is important to note that nowadays Kota Kinabalu (KK) citizens are increasingly feeling unhappy and are suffering due to worsening traffic congestion in the city. It affects the city’s quality of life and happiness,” said Phoong.
He was responding to a statement by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Abdul Rahman Dahlan that the BRT was the best option for Kota Kinabalu (KK), instead of the Light Rail Transit (LRT), due to the not-to-par population base in the state’s capital city.
KK’s public transportation system currently only includes buses and taxis, unlike national capital city Kuala Lumpur which also has the LRT and monorail systems.
“The government should take an ‘early intervention’ or early approach to public transportation planning for KK city, according to the World Bank Economic Monitor Report published in 2015,” said Phoong, who is also the DAP’s national policy bureau director.
The World Bank’s report states that the “better-early-than-late” approach will benefit the city as it is better to have comprehensive public transportation planning and implementation before the city got more congested and populated in the near future.
“I agree with Abdul Rahman that the BRT is the best option for KK city, but it should be implemented without further delay.
“At the same time, the government must take the World Bank report’s suggestions seriously that the planning for other massive rapid transit options such as the LRT or tram system, be studied now.”
Phoong said Rahman was correct in saying that the population base in KK was still not big enough. However, according to statistics, KK has a 2% growth in annual population compared with 1.3% across the country.
“It shows that urbanisation is fast in KK. According to statistics, the greater KK city can expect a one million population in 2020,” he said.
“If we only expect the BRT system in 2020 or later, I’m afraid it would not be enough to fulfil the citizens’ needs and demands.”
The greater KK plan, released by the state government, said the full implementation of the BRT should be between 2016 and 2020 and, at the same time, the feasibility study on the LRT or monorail system should be ongoing, according to Phoong.
“This shows the government is already behind its schedule in terms of public transportation development.
“The most successful cities tend to have advanced public transportation despite not reaching their population target.
“In addition, with KK having an increasing number of tourists annually, the groundwork should be ongoing alongside the planning work,” he added.