It is heartening to finally see the transport minister promoting the use of the bus system. While he has emphasised the need for consumers to use the bus to reduce subsidies, public transport in an urban system is far more critical than that.
In relation to cost of living, after food and housing expenses, transport makes up the third highest expenditure. Due to inefficient and unreliable public transport, consumers are often forced to use their cars. It is estimated that households spend about 20 to 30% of their disposable income on private transport: instalments, petrol, services, maintenance, road tax, insurance, tolls and parking charges. An efficient public transport would contribute substantial savings to these households.
The core of the public transport system is the bus system. It is the “last mile” of the system, that is from home to office, or home to LRT station, or LRT station to office. If the last mile of the public system is not reliable or, worse, not available, consumers may have to use their private cars or taxis which is often not affordable for low and middle-income earners.
Yet, the bus system has too often been ignored by policymakers. Too often we emphasise the LRT and MRT but not the last mile. Worse still, in both major and small towns, many communities have no bus service thus forcing the purchase and use of private cars.
For a public transport system to be popular, obviously it must be available.
Fomca urges the transport ministry to undertake an audit of how extensive the current bus system is. We could even start in Seremban. Which are the housing areas which have access to buses, but no buses plying the housing areas? A feasibility study could be undertaken to ensure a comprehensive bus system to ensure that all major housing areas are served by the bus system.
After availability of the bus system, consumers would expect buses to be reliable. Are they punctual? For example, can the system be relied on to make sure I can reach my office on time? Or is it going to be a case where one day it is on time and the next day it is late? System reliability is critical to increasing bus usage.
In promoting public transport, these 12 components should be considered:
1. Availability (when and where public transport is available) and coverage (the portion of a geographic area, portion of common destinations in a community, located within reasonable distance of service)
2. Frequency (how many trips are made each hour or day)
3. Travel speed (absolute and relative to automobile travel)
4. Reliability (how frequently service follows published schedules)
5. Integration (ease of transferring within the public transport system and with other travel modes)
6. Price structure and payment options
7. User comfort and security (including riding on, walking to and waiting for services)
8. Accessibility (ease of reaching stations and stops, particularly by walking)
9. Universal design (ability to accommodate diverse users with disabilities)
10. Affordability (user costs relative to their income and other travel options)
11. Information (ease of obtaining information about public transport services)
12. Aesthetics (appearance of vehicles, waiting areas)
By building an efficient and effective public transport system, the government would not only ensure that consumers reduce their dependence on private cars and depend more on public transport, thus increasing their disposal income. Other benefits of a good public transport system are reducing traffic congestion, reducing parking congestion, reducing traffic accidents, reducing building of roads and parking infrastructure costs, reducing excessive energy consumption as well as reducing pollution emissions.
Instead of spending billions on reducing tolls, that money could be spent to upgrade the public transport system.
Paul Selva Raj is CEO of Fomca.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.