LRT Line Extension Project opens to all

After several delays and cost overrun, the Sri Petaling Line and Kelana Jaya Line Extension Project (LEP) was open to service on June 30 and officiated by Najib Razak, the Prime Minister.

The new service will extends from Kelana Jaya to Putra Heights and Sri Petaling to Putra Heights with expected ridership of 300,000 per day for both lines.

The new rolling stock of Sri Petaling Line at Putra Heights Station

Interior of new train with electronic information display overhead

One ticket to ride

One ticket to ride (Malay Mail)

Smooth road-rail travel for Klang Valley by 2013 when two major transport operators’ electronic pass systems merge

By Shahrim Tamrin

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR: GOOD news beckons for public transport users in Klang Valley.

After more than 13 years for a single ticketing system ever since the introduction of ‘Touch n Go’, commuters can now look forward to seamless travel on rail networks and bus services across the Klang Valley come 2013.

With the objective to achieve gradually to the level of electronic ticketing in developed countries such as London’s Oyster and Octopus Card in Hong Kong, public transport efficiency in Klang Valley will reach a new height with Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) system.

After years of having to face different ticketing systems, preparing small change for exact fare and queuing up at counters, Syarikat Prasarana Negara Berhad (Prasarana) - the operator of the LRT, monorail and RapidKL bus services - and KTM Bhd (KTMB), which operates the Komuter service, have confirmed a single ticketing system would materialise soon.

Prasarana group managing director Shahril Mokhtar and KTMB president Dr Aminuddin Adnan revealed to The Malay Mail that a new AFC system would be adopted between both parties once it is in operation next year.

Shahril said Prasarana would be launching its own AFC system early next year, paving the way for an integration with the KTMB system at later stage.

“Once the AFC is up and running for our services early next year, we are ready to integrate with KTMB as their AFC system will also be on the same platform and design,” he said.

Shahril described the all-in-one ticketing system would offer a hassle-free journey for public transport users in Klang Valley.

“Commuters will only need to use just one cashless card for our LRT, monorail and bus services. It will take off early next year when the station integration works in Hang Tuah, Masjid Jamek and Titiwangsa are completed by the third-quarter of this year,” he said.

Shahril added that the AFC system would also be included for the future MRT and LRT extension services.

The station integration is considered to be the catalyst for Prasarana to launch the AFC system as it will ensure commuters experience seamless journeys without having to go through the hassle of buying different tickets or going through turnstiles to change rail routes.

Aminuddin said the KTMB AFC system for its Komuter service is currently being installed and the roll-out to all KTM’s 56 rail stations was expected to be completed in 12 months.

“The contractor will complete the AFC system for the KTM Komuter service by June next year. We will then start to commission the new ticketing system to replace the obsolete system we have right now," said Aminuddin.

New system will benefit commuters

“When everything is in place, we will discuss with Prasarana to merge the two systems as our new ticketing system design, specification and platform are almost similar to Prasarana’s ticketing.”

Both transportation leaders concurred the new AFC system for Prasarana and KTMB will bring greater benefits to the commuters for faster and more reliable transactions at the gates.

Stating the system would leverage on the present 'Touch n Go' platform, Aminuddin said: “The integration process between both parties would take couple of months to complete. It's most likely the ticketing integration between KTMB and Prasarana will take place in 2013.”

He also said that a common ticketing system was identified as part of the National Key Results Areas in the urban public transportation lab.

The lab had summarised seven big ideas in realising the government's objective of achieving 25 per cent usage of public transportation modal share by 2012.

At the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) Open Day in December 2009, urban transportation leaders had outlined seven big ideas - which include station integration and integrated ticketing across the Klang Valley, Bus Express Transit, extra carriages for KTM and LRT, Integrated Transport Terminal, Bus Rapid Transit and enforcement initiatives.

Lightning travel

NUR ISMAIL: We want to emulate the electronic ticketing success

HAVING a single electronic ticketing system is long overdue judging by the government's intention to implement this in public transport services for many years.

Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) chief executive officer Mohd Nur Ismal Kamal said the government aims for a single cashless ticketing across operations to improve public transport.

“Ever since the introduction of the Touch 'n Go platform, it has been identified that a single cashless system be part of the mechanism to boost the quality of public transport. In future, the commission wants to see 90 per cent of commuters with cashless cards for seamless journeys and faster transaction,” he said.

The Touch 'n Go smart card was introduced in 1997 with the objective of a cashless society. It was first used at the then Jalan Pahang Toll Plaza in KL in March that year. The system was subsequently adopted by Klang Valley stage bus company Cityliner in 2000.

Mohd Nur pointed out the Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) system applied by government-backed public transport operators must be gradually extended to private companies.

“With AFC, this could soon pave the way for discounted fares and a kilometre-based system for many journeys to encourage more people to take up public transport," he said.

“We want to emulate the electronic ticketing success like that of London’s Oyster card and Hong Kong's Octopus card and thus gain public confidence in public transport ridership in Greater Kuala Lumpur.”

London's Oyster card was introduced in 2003 by local government body Transport for London (TfL) with the objective of reducing queuing times and speeding up journey times. It offers vast discounts on many journeys and environmental benefits as less paper tickets are used.

With Oyster, TfL is able to gather data on the most popular journey times and patterns.

Hong Kong's Octopus card was launched in 1997 by Octopus Cards Limited, a consortium of major transport operators for the territory’s mass transit system (metro, rail, bus and ferry) and widely recognised as one of the world’s leading automatic fare collection systems and contactless smart card payment system.

About 20 million Octopus cards are in circulation, three times the population of the former British colony, and it's used by 95 per cent of the population aged from 16 to 65 years, and generating over 11 million daily transactions every day worth a total over HK$100 million (about RM38 million).

Octopus can be used for more than 2,500 service providers across different businesses including transport, parking, retail, vending and kiosks, schools, leisure facilities and access control for residential and commercial buildings.

One seamless, cashless trip

JUST one cashless card for rail and bus services

The new cashless multi-modal ticketing card is expected to provide convenience to Klang Valley commuters by 2013.

For example, an office executive staying in Shah Alam and working in Pandan Indah can board the KTM Komuter train in the morning rush hour by simply tapping a cashless card before entering the platform.

Upon arrival at KL Sentral, she will simply touch the card at the exit gate and then walk to the elevated LRT station. She will then tap the same card at the LRT station to board the Kelana Jaya line train to the integrated Masjid Jamek station.

At Masjid Jamek, she walks up to another platform by using a special lane - without having to go through the turnstile at the Masjid Jamek exit - to board the Ampang line train. It is only at the Cempaka LRT station would the executive tap the card at the exit.

When she boards the RapidKL feeder bus from the LRT station to her office in the Pandan Indah business centre, she taps the same card for boarding and alighting from the bus.

It's one seamless journey without multiple tickets to improve accessibility and providing hassle-free connections.

Syarikat Prasarana Negara Berhad (Prasarana) group managing director Shahril Mokhtar said completion of integration stations at Hang Tuah, Masjid Jamek and Titiwangsa by third quarter of the year would hold the key to the activation of Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) system.

“The sooner works on station integrations are completed, the better. If possible, I want the AFC system to start by December,” he said.

For someone who regularly takes the LRT to work, Shahril has full empathy for the public call for one ticket for all.

“People have been waiting for this kind of system for many years. We are done with the planning stage and next year will be the crucial time for us to deliver,” he said.

He also said the cashless system initiative for bus services has already begun via Prasarana’s subsidiaries Rangkaian Pengangkutan Integrasi Deras (RapidKL).

Its new bus cashless ticketing system ‘Rabbit Card’ was introduced in February with encouraging response from passengers.

The RapidKL cashless system is considered to be as good as cash, with the aim to encourage rakyat to migrate to public transportation.

"I understand students prefer cashless card to travel by public transport around Klang Valley. It's convenient and hopefully people from all walks of life would take public transport including office workers and corporate executives."

Waiting for the fast train

Waiting for the fast train (The Star)

Sunday February 20, 2011

By Hariati Azizan
sunday@thestar.com.my

Dare Malaysians imagine a speedy train journey and a comfortable bus service during peak hours?

ADVERTISING executive Raymond Kang cannot wait for the day when he can take the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) down to Kuala Lumpur’s Golden Triangle.

“I have not been down to Bukit Bintang for more than five years; it’s just too much of a hassle to drive all the way,” says the Sri Damansara resident.

Kang is one of many residents who are impatiently awaiting the MRT service to connect them to downtown.

However, like most, he is worried about the actual connectivity of the MRT.

Far from perfect: Although the LRT ridership has seen an increase of 2.21 million passengers, passengers complain about the poor connectivity and congestion during peak hours.

 

“Now, we can already take the Putra LRT (light rapid transit) and Monorail if we want to go shopping in Bukit Bintang. It’s getting to the Putra station from my house that is the problem. And if you make the effort, there is no guarantee that you can get parking, even on a Sunday,” he griped, adding that changing trains is another hassle.

The bane of Malaysia’s city dwellers, the local public transport system is fraught with unreliable services, frequent delays and service cancellations. Even the previous upgrades – the development of the LRT and Monorail – have failed to meet users’ needs with its congestion, poor accessibility and even poorer connectivity.

Coupled with the growth in private car ownership, the public transport system has declined further – from a share of 34% in public transport modal in 1985 to between 10% and 12% in 2008.

Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) chief executive officer Datuk Seri Idris Jala admits that changing the mindset of car owners to give up their cars and use public transport is one of the biggest challenges the Government faces.

“First of all, we have to continue making sure that the journey time (for commuters) is reduced. We have introduced BET (Bus Express Transit), which uses expressways to reduce the journey time by almost half.

“If it takes 65 minutes to commute from Shah Alam to Pasar Seni, you’ll be persuaded to (use public transport) if it takes less than 30 minutes,” he explains.

Other measures include improving the capacity of the LRT and accessibility to the public transport services.

Idris feels that the improvements in the urban public transport system have proved effective in boosting the volume of passengers on the LRT and BET express buses, which use the faster routes – the LRT ridership has seen an increase of 2.21 million passengers while BET usage has spiked by 127%. Another reason for the hike in the number of LRT passengers, he adds, is the introduction of 20 new LRT trains, each of which comprise four sets of carriages.

Still, Idris concedes, maintaining the service level and ensuring its reliability are crucial to keep commuters on public transport.

The Government Transformation Programme (GTP) had aimed to raise the public transport modal share from 12% in 2008 to 17% last year with its Urban Public Transport (UPT) National Key Results Area (NKRA).

In boosting the public transport system, a few key aims have been identified. These include improving reliability and cutting journey times, enhancing comfort and convenience, and improving accessibility and connectivity to the services available.

The rollout has shown some improvement – there have been positive changes in high peak period congestion, reduced frequent delays and cancellations as well as improved connectivity between modes in certain areas.

Idris is optimistic that the programmes implemented will contribute towards a further boost in the system, particularly in achieving the 2012 target of having 25% of people use public transport.

He cites the slight increase in the use of public transport last year – approximately 10,000 more people are taking public transport in the morning peak hours daily, an increase of 4.4% when compared to 2009.
Bandar Utama resident Jeff Lowe, however, laments the traffic jams that still clog up Kuala Lumpur’s main roads.

“It is important to remember that you must get a massive number of workers to work on time but look at the traffic jam at peak hours. If the public transport is not efficient, people will just get a car – as we have seen in the last 20 years,” he adds.

“You can’t expect people to stop buying cars because they offer freedom of mobility. Even in countries where the public transport system is excellent like Britain and Singapore, they cannot stop people from buying cars.”

Idris says we still have some way to go to get more people to use public transport – only 11% of people used urban public transport here compared to London (90%) and Singapore (60%) in 2009.

The numbers look good though, he assures.

“We moved from 11% (urban public transport ridership) to 13% last December.”

He nonetheless agrees that it will be tough to get people to give up their cars. Hence, under the GTP, the plan is to get car users to reduce their car usage.

One initiative is the development of Park and Ride facilities for LRT and KTM stations, which would be completed with more than 6,000 additional parking bays by next year.

For Lowe, however, the UPT is 30 years too late.

“Now, we don’t even have reserve lines or bus lanes. In the early 1980s, we were told by expert urban planners that if we don’t plan for our public transport, we will have a traffic problem. They said their studies projected how rural-urban migration would affect the traffic.”

His other grouse is the lack of public feedback from the Government before embarking on projects.

“All they need to do is to conduct a simple survey. Now, after the project has been approved with a timeline for completion, what good is feedback from the people? How much can be taken into account?” he argues.

Encouraged by the focus given to connectivity in the UPT plans, Lowe hopes that the Government has taken into consideration the whole of Klang Valley.
“You must consider the whole area so that people can travel to any part of KL for work or other reasons from where they live. For one, the interconnection between buses must be well-planned.”

A regular bus user, Thelvi, says she tries to take the bus more often but comfort and congestion is still an issue.

Torturous ride
“I have noticed that the service is more frequent and there are more buses but they are still crowded. It is really bad during the peak hours, when everyone is rushing to get to work or get home from work.

“You are stuck in a packed bus and the bus is not moving at all on the highway. That is torture,” says the salesgirl at one of the major departmental stores in Damansara.

Several agencies including the Transport Ministry are working hard to improve the bus service in the country. The ministry for one has been studying the Bus Rapid Transit system in the Klang Valley to improve its services.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha says some of the initiatives include 306 new bus stops at locations where there are currently no shelters.

Commuters in and around the Klang Valley will also get about 470 new RapidKL buses by the end of the year to improve current services, especially feeder services to/from rail stations.

For the KTM Komuter service, 38 new sets of six-car trains will be delivered by the end of the year while existing stations will also undergo upgrades and improvements.

Integration and pedestrian facilities at key stations will also be upgraded to provide more comfort and convenience for commuters.

The current buzz is of course the MRT, which when introduced in 2016, is expected to push the number of public transport users to 50% by 2020.

One future public transport “convert”, a Bandar Tun Hussein Onn resident who only wants to be known as Yusuf, says he cannot wait for the MRT to be completed.

“I am very happy. The public transport that we have now from Cheras to KL city centre is bad. The Cheras-Kajang road is always jammed, and there is no other alternative,” says the GLC manager who commutes to the city centre by car daily.
“The MRT will reduce travelling time for everyone. Hopefully, many people will take the MRT, which will reduce the number of cars on the road. But if the Government wants the people to use the train, they need to make sure that the feederbus service is efficient –frequent and on time.

“There will still be a traffic problem if everyone drives to the MRT station, and that will defeat its purpose in improving the environment.”
Another concern is the ticket price.

“We hope the cost will not be transferred to the passengers. They will have to study the related fares too, such as car park and feederbus fare and factor them in as the total cost incurred on a passenger.

“Like any public transport development and improvement, the cost should not be transferred to the users. The UPT should not burden the public,” he adds