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We refer to the Tiger Talk commentary in KiniBiz entitled “Park and Ride is like so last decade” on July 3, 2014.
While the writer might view that “Park and Ride” is an old concept, he should recognize that the number of private vehicles in the city has steadily increased over the years due to various factors.
“Park and Ride” is one of the avenues to help reduce the number of vehicles on the road while enabling the people to continue to own private vehicles.
In addition, “Park and Ride” facilities help integrate the public transport journey of commuters, assisting them to transfer from one mode of transport to another.
Instead of driving to the city center, for example, where the travel could be relatively longer, and parking space could be limited in addition to relatively higher parking charges, motorists could park their vehicles at a “Park and Ride” facility at a reasonable rate, and hop on to the LRT towards the city center.
It also serves the needs of commuters who live beyond practical walking distance from rail stations or bus stops which connect them to the city center.
While the writer might think the concept of “Park and Ride” is passé, it is still very much implemented and promoted in our neighboring country, which many of us would like to compare with. The parking rate is slightly lower than those levied at our LRT stations, dollar-to-dollar.
Reduces time and cost
The introduction of “Park and Ride” facilities in or near LRT stations help reduce the traveling time of motorists, in addition to reducing cost of fuel, maintenance, toll, and expensive parking charges in the city center.
Within the LRT stations, we have taken some 5,000 private vehicles off the road, daily. By providing 1,000 parking bays at the “Park and Ride” facilities, we could free some 5km of the road of private vehicles and help reduce the carbon emissions from these vehicles.
Much welcomed
That “Park and Ride” facilities are needed and welcomed by the public was demonstrated when we recorded full capacity demand a few weeks upon upgrading the 400 at-grade parking bays next to the Gombak LRT station to a multi-storey “Park and Ride” facility with 1,200 parking bays last year.
To-date, we have recorded over 1,500 users at the Gombak LRT station “Park and Ride” facility.
During recent engagements with lawmakers from both sides of the political divide, there were also resounding support and requests for more multi-storey “Park and Ride” facilities to be built to reduce traffic congestion and to promote the use of public transport.
Already MBPJ has announced the building of more than 3,000 at-grade parking bays in various parts of Petaling Jaya.
NKRA initiatives
The multi-storey “Park and Ride” facility at the Ampang LRT station was one of the NKRA initiatives to achieve the Government’s aspiration of attaining 25% public transport modal share in the Klang Valley by 2020 (the current public transport modal share is 21% compared with 17% in 2010).
The “Park and Ride” facilities in the Klang Valley will also help in us achieving the public transport ridership of 750,000 in the morning peak hours.
The Deputy Prime Minister was invited to launch the facility in his capacity as the chairman of the NKRA initiatives.
The cost in building multi-storey “Park and Ride” facilities that are fully-equipped with the latest safety and security features, and motorists convenience such as parking guidance system is comparable to commercial and public projects in the city.
The difference is in the parking rates charged. Commercial organizations have the option of imposing higher parking rates comparatively and achieve a shorter payback period.
Some, such as shopping malls, might opt to impose lower parking rates with the aim of drawing the people to their properties.
Likewise, we decided to impose lower parking rates at Prasarana-managed “Park and Ride” facilities for LRT users to promote the usage of public transport services.
However, contrary to the views of the writer, the Prasarana-managed “Park and Ride” facilities are also opened to non-LRT users, but who would pay hourly rates.
First and last mile journey
Having said that, we take cognizance of the need to cater for the first and last mile journey of the commuting public.
RapidKL deploys some 160 buses daily to provide LRT feeder bus services on 40 routes, drawing a ridership of 1.4 million monthly. This represents some 20 per cent of the total bus ridership.
Severe shortage of bus captains
We would be able to deploy more buses on the road if not for the severe shortage of bus captains, a challenge that is being experienced by the entire bus industry in the country.
Malaysia and Singapore are the two countries that face such constraints among the major bus service operators in the world.
While Singapore has taken steps to hire foreign resources, including Malaysians, as bus captains, our hands remained tied.
In addition to continually engaging and reaching out to various stakeholders, we conduct daily walk-in interviews at the Pasar Seni bus hub to fill the 500 vacancies of bus captains.
We are also working towards improving the working condition and welfare of the bus captains who draw a relatively respectable wage.
However, much support is required from the regulators and local authorities.
For us to improve on the timeliness and reliability of the feeder bus service, we look forward to the local authorities providing truly dedicated bus lanes, where other motorists are not able to encroach into.
We also welcome the installation of priority traffic lights for buses, at least during peak hours, to enhance the travel experience of our commuters.
Options available
To further promote the use of public transport, options are also available for those who prefer to cycle and park at nearby LRT stations. At the Ampang Line, bicycle park facilities are available in Sentul, Sentul Timur, Sungai Besi and Ampang, where such facility is popular.
At the Kelana Jaya Line, bicycle park facilities are available in most stations except those in the city center such as Bangsar, KL Sentral, Pasar Seni, Masjid Jamek, Dang Wangi, KLCC, Kampung Baru, and Ampang Park.
We are working with DBKL to further promote this program in the coming months.
As with most transit operators, we also allow foldable bikes onboard our trains during non-peak hours.
We trust the writer is aware that the provision of public transport infrastructure and services are essentially a public service to ensure the people have access to services that cater to their basic travel needs.
Even cities such as Singapore require much support from the government in terms of asset acquisition and the development of public transport infrastructure.
At our end, we would continually improve our service delivery and provide the necessary supporting infrastructure to help increase the public transport modal share to 40% by 2030.
It is important to recognize that there is no quick solution to public transport challenges in the city, and that long-term planning is essential.
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Rudyanto Azhar is the chief executive officer of Prasarana Integrated Development Sdn Bhd (PRIDE)
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