Penang Institute executive director Ong Kian Ming, who is based in Kuala Lumpur, said many people preferred to drive than take public transport despite increased availability in the last decade because of the cost and inconvenience.
“If it costs RM15 to take the MRT to and from Kajang to Kuala Lumpur, including parking charges, many people would rather drive.
“Public transportation not only has to be cheaper than driving but it has to be significantly cheaper to make up for the inconvenience of taking it – walking further, waiting longer, no flexibility to drive to other places,” he told FMT.
“If someone has to spend an extra one hour going to work — waiting for the feeder bus, walking to the office from the train station — and one hour coming back, the extra two hours spent may not be worth it, even if it was cost saving.”
Ong, the DAP MP for Serdang, was responding to Prime Minter Najib Razak’s address at the Invest Malaysia 2018 conference where he blamed former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad for neglecting the country’s public transport system.
Najib said Malaysia’s public transport network was neglected for decades due to “one man’s” obsession with developing a national car, an obvious reference to Mahathir who started Proton to drive his industrialisation programme.
Since the launch of MRT, Najib has claimed credit for “rescuing” the country from its public transport woes.
Ong, however, pointed out that even with the rail systems in place, the public could not use the trains due to the costly fares.
Asked whether the train network was included in town planning in the past, Ong said “mostly no”.
“We didn’t have transit-oriented development or planning and very few new developments were planned with public transportation needs in mind,” he said.
Did the MRT launched last July help elevate some of these problems?
“I think the MRT will take some time to increase its ridership,” he said.
“This also depends on the network effect once MRT Line 2 and Line 3 come onstream.
“But if feeder bus services and the cost and convenience issues are not solved, even with Line 2 and Line 3, the ridership of the MRT may not be able to reach its projected target.”
The MRT, though heavily promoted prior to its opening last year still has yet to live up to expectations of being able to reduce traffic congestion in various parts of the Klang Valley.
“This goes back to the issue of cost and convenience,” said Ong.
He added that buses were still very relevant because many areas could not be covered by the MRT or Light Rail Transit (LRT).
“In fact, if buses are more convenient and plentiful, more people would be willing to give up their cars,” he said.
Meanwhile, Public Transport Users Association (4PAM) president Ajit Johl reiterated his view that it was Mahathir’s decision to focus on private transportation rather than public that caused the mess today.
Speaking to FMT, Ajit said the public was suffering due to the never ending arguments between the government and the opposition that brought no solution to the problem.
Ajit had in September last year compared Malaysia to Singapore where its MRT system, besides covering a wide area, also has good supporting systems, such as proper feeder bus and train services, accessibility of stations, cashless payment methods and shaded, well-lit and safe walkways.
He added that there was still a lot of room for improvement, especially in regulations, for which the Land Public Transport Commission is responsible.
Matthias Gelber, a green activist who has been advocating the use of public transport in Malaysia, said a lot of things could have been planned better.
“The connection of the legacy systems is not good as there were different companies that did not plan their connections properly,” he said.