Public Transportation

It was reported that public transport usage rises from 10% in 2009 to 17% in year 2010. The number of passengers has increased to 2.6 million. It is anticipated public transport usage would rise to 21% this year and followed by 25% by 2012. This increase was attributed to the enhanced capacity of LRT coaches and also the introduction of Bus Expressway Transit which attracted 1500 passengers daily. The trend is encouraging and more can be done to recruit public transport users. The provision of efficient feeder buses service plying the residential route to LRT station or transportation hub will help to increase the number of passengers. As it is, many cars in the park and ride parking lots are parked there from morning to the evening. While it is encouraging to witness the willingness of people to take their car to the station and board a train, it is also unbecoming for having the cars idle there the whole day. It is a waste of resources. We should discourage ownership of car for the sole purpose of travelling to the station from home. I believe many will not mind to disown the car if feeder bus service is available with ease.

It is also reported that option for Bus Rapid Transit is explored. It should not take too long to realise it since it is cheaper compared to building the MRT and LRT, and of course much lower expenditure. While some might argue of the need to have dedicated lane for buses, it can be done by realigning the traffic flow and prioritising the usage of road by public transportation mode. For example, to give priority to the buses instead of other private vehicles. Similarly, equal of not more capital investment should be allocated for the buses service.

Many have not taken a ride with buses and train simply because they do not trust the reliability of the service. Rightly so as for those frequent travellers, they have to adapt to the bad experience they encountered in getting a bus or train. We must erase the bad experience and perception of public about the public transportation by providing reliable, affordable and inter-connected services. At the same time, to impose higher maintenance fee for owning a car. It can be in the form of higher tax, higher petrol price, maintenance fee, car parking charge and etc. In general, it must be multiple approaches in tackling the woes of public transportation.