Star better than Putra?

This, among many other things, was written by Alex Wong to Malaysiakini today: There has not been any major breakdown in the Star line since its inception. There were some minor interruptions but they were solved within an hour or so.

Meanwhile, The Sun has reported:

LRT coach overshoots track

KUALA LUMPUR (October 27, 2006): A Star-LRT coach overshot the concrete embankment at the Sentul Timur station, and dangled about 25 metres above the ground.

The incident took place at 7.11am Friday (Oct 27) as the train pulled up at the last stop. There were no passengers in the six coaches then.

Rangkaian Pengangkutan Integrasi Deras Sdn Bhd corporate communications division senior manager Katherine Chew said they are investigating whether the incident was caused by a technical fault or due to human error.

She said their services were operating as usual.

A sight to behold! Tsk tsk tsk.

With so many incidences on the Putra LRT, and this amazing/amusing FIRST for Star, I'm, sorry but I cannot offer any useful advice to Rapid KL, SPNB or the authorities. In fact, no amoung of Binafikir-ing can help Rapid KL.

Uncurb your enthusiasm

Sorry for the long period of silence.

I have been pretty busy so I haven't have had much time to think and research about public transportation. So even today's post will be abit substanceless and maybe not directly related to public transportation, although they are still IMPORTANT issues.

Stationary violation
This was frontpaged in the Star today:



Can you tell me what is wrong in this photo?

See that row of cars parked by the sides? Well that's an emergency lane on a highway. And there's this row of cars, probably driven by the press and the Police. They have themselves committed a traffic offence and have endangered other road users.

The law states it clearly: emergency lanes are for of emergency vehicles and for breakdowns. Even then, it has to be towed away ASAP. If I am not mistaken motorcycles are also allowed to use it.

Regarding the problem then of how and where the journalists were to park, that is not my problem. Reporting a story on road safety doesn't give anyone the license to break the law themselves.

Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur


Remember the photos sent in by Loke W? Well I submitted it to the Star. I hope the mayor who hasn't been reading his emails reads this today.

Being an officer of the law DOES NOT give you the license to break the law yourself.

Vigilanteism
It's the season once again when the politikus start rambling in the newspapers about crime and "illegal immigrants".

As usual, according to these people, every Indonesian, Burmese and Bangladeshi is a suspect. And they should be sent home (all though no one has thought who is going to replace them, especially the illegals to work in the plantations, factories, restaurants, construction sites etc. that would be Malaysian Idle. You think Malaysians want to do this kind of work?).

And of course, Rela, the citizen vigilante group, is given the carte blanche to arrest some Burmese, beat them up and throw them into a pond.



So in the spirit of this season of fear, I encourage you to spy on your fellow citizens for a better cause.

Remember, only use cameras when it is safe. Never when you are the driver (even when you are stationary).

Take photos of all those buggers hogging bus lanes. People cutting in and out. People littering from the car window. People who park in two boxes. People who park in front of fire hydrants.

This beats the hell out of beating people and throwing them into ponds. And even though you are "snitching" and telling on other people, why worry? The Star will black out number plates. And JPJ - what action?

But at any rate, I would still encourage you to submit these photos, with as much information to these people.

• panducermat.org.my/gallery - registration required
• thumbnails@thestar.com.my
• kpjpj@jpj.gov.my

And now the fun part

Ever dreamt of being a police officer as a kid!? Well dream no more.

While you're at it, issue a "saman" for the traffic offender. I think it will be quite difficult in most cases to issue it, with the exception of parking offences. Still, it's better than nothing!

In classic ugly formatting and Times New Roman and in A4 size this is almost as real as it can get.



Print this out. Plenty of it. Keep it in your car/bag. Issue it liberally, but please children, don't ask for a bribe.

And remember, don't be a HYPOCRITE like DBKL, The Star and the Police.

Transport regulation

This is an excerpt of a letter written by Radicalhop to Malaysiakini:

I seriously urge the transport minister to make the following sweeping changes:

1. Fire Rapid KL’s top management in charge of the Putra LRT. The Putra LRT’s constant failure means failure on their part
   
   
2. Fine Rapid KL RM1 million for every hour the LRT is down. To be frank, RM1 million/hour is a paltry sum compared to the thousands of human resources stuck on the trains and at the stations when they are supposed to be at work contributing to the country’s economic growth.
   
   
3. Publicly display to the commuters Putra LRT’s KPI (key performance indicators). Monthly statistics like system failures, late trains, Touch & Go breakdowns, ticketing gate malfunctions, air-conditioning jams in trains and stations would be helpful. And don’t cheat.
   
   We will have a good laugh at the dismal figures initially, but I’m sure Putra LRT will improve the system to save its own face from constant public embarrassment.
   
   
4. Fire those who can’t meet these KPIs.

I like 2, 3 and 4.

Regarding 1, that's a little bit more complicated because SPNB is the company that owns the infrastructure. As far as I understand, SPNB owns the trains etc. and thus money for maintenance etc. comes through them.

I have written a little about 2 and 3 here.

But the question I would like to ask is who is KL's transport regulator? Rapid KL is an operator, with quasi regulatory powers (look at how easy it was for them to "revamp" the network"). But someone needs to regulate Rapid KL, no?

To be honest, I have a million things to say about this whole Putra LRT cock ups.

But most of it would be so obvious. And these people, Rein Westra, Ali Nor and Katherine Chew - I'm sure they are reading this blog and all the complaints on the net. But what to do? They inherited many organizations with lousy third world work ethic and culture and a demotivated workforce.

Afterall, in this age and day, what type of right thinking intelligent person would want to be a bus driver or station master?

If you think Malaysia Airlines is bad, and Idris Jala has sleepless nights, can you imagine Rapid KL?

What revamp?

This is an edited version of an email that I sent to a reader discussing Rapid KL's so-called bus network revamp.

____

This year, Rapid KL has "revamped" the bus system. In my opinion this "revamp" consists of two separate efforts:

Firstly, the network revamp. The Local-Trunk-City-Express system. That is something out of this world to us KL folk. And this is what I believe Rapid KL means by "revamp".

Secondly, fleet revamp - fleet enlargement and upgrade. New buses, more buses, reconditioned old buses. COINCIDENTALLY, these buses were introduced this year. I'm not sure if Rapid KL would have proceeded with effort 1 (network revamp) if there was no fleet revamp.

So, when we praise or criticize this new "system", are we talking about the network revamp or the nice new clean buses (and their relative abundance)?

When discussing this revamp, we have to decompose the effects of the fleet revamp, which would SPNB would have proceeded regardless of Rapid KL's plans to change the network. For example, when doing a survey on "what do you think of this new system", we have to consider:
1. fleet revamp (with plenty of new buses) and network revamp (local-trunk-city-express); vs
2. fleet revamp (with plenty of new buses) without network revamp (old system with all buses terminating at KL or LRT stations at most)

Fleet revamp, is a given, since that is SPNB's mandate, while operationally Rapid KL decides how to utilise that fleet (network).

I don't think Rapid KL has been honest enough in presenting this case that the hub-and-spoke (local-trunk-city-express) is indeed better. As far as I have read, they haven't cited any reasons why this system is better. They just make a claim that hub-and-spoke leads to shorter waiting time without showing the logic or evidence.
http://www.rapidkl.com.my/o_newnetwork2006.htm

The only plausible reason I can guess is that breaking up longer routes into shorter ones will lead to less accumulated delays. And breaking them up into many independent systems will also avoid problems elsewhere. For example, if there is a big jam at Kotaraya, this shouldn't affect people who wish to travel from Subang to Bangsar. Under the old system it would.

Whether this new network system is indeed better, I think we should let Rapid KL give it a try. But I expect Rapid KL to produce some evidence in a few months showing that indeed time is saved and it is the most effective and efficient (least waste) way of managing the routes.

Another thing that has to be looked at is the new fare structure. How would the issuing of bus passes change people's travelling habits? How about those people who only need to make one trip a day? Probably a lot of people who say that "I love this new system" are coming from people who travel a lot who now experience cheaper fares because now their fares are capped at RM4? Probably true if your sample consists mainly of people in Bangi who travel to KL and would have had to spend more than RM4 before.

At the end of the day, we all have to ask ourselves this - "what does it mean by NEW SYSTEM?"

I expect Rapid KL to be clearer in their communications when praising and advocating this new "system". Is it the new and more buses they are talking about? Or the hub and spoke system? Or the bus pass fare structure?

These are 3 different initiatives by Rapid KL (and SPNB) and Rapid KL has the responsibility in explaining to its stakeholders (government and us users) how each have brought benefits.

No cock and bull about, oh this system is better because waiting time has been cut. (IF AT ALL IT IS TRUE, AND IF TRUE is it because of more buses on the road or is it due to the gains from the hub and spoke?)

LRT breaks down and Rapid KL dogma

Again.

I wasn't and am not around for the weekend, so I only got to know of it through the news.

In this post, I'd like to talk about 2 different but closely related topics.

I'm not sure if they did any of this, but here's what they could have done to ease the pain:

1. brief all bus drivers and get them to advise passengers that they may need to take a continuing trunk line instead of to the LRT.
2. announce the breakdown on the internet and radio.
3. 1-800-number. A friend of mine told me that she called the 1-800 number but it was engaged. Why not just pre-record an announcement about the breakdown and how to go around it?

What they can do in the future:

1. fix the problem! this is the number what-th time this year?
2. have contingency plans - rail replacement services that bring passengers from one station to another. In fact, why not introduce a trunk line service that tracks the LRT system and have it run during peak hours? The KJ line is so packed that it'd be good to educate passengers in using the bus system. Do one from KL Sentral to Kelana Jaya, and another from KLCC to Gombak. Heavy traffic on the road will ensure that most passengers would still prefer the LRT and hence introducing this route ought not to cannibalize LRT services too much. In fact, run services parallel to all rail lines!
   
3. SMS information to customers. How about doing that to MTC holders for a start?

And one thing I hope Rapid KL can do to its bus system is to not be overly dogmatic about its city-trunk-local system. Areas are primarily served by one city hub each. Area 2 is served by Titiwangsa. Area 3 by KLCC/Titiwangsa. Area 4 by Maluri. Areas 5/6 both at KL Sentral

You see the problem here. Each area is too dependent on one city hub. And when one city hub fails, then problems multiply.

For example, yesterday, where services east of Masjid Jamek were disrupted, train passengers heading towards Wangsa Maju were directed at Masjid Jamek to change lines to Titiwangsa to take continuing Trunk line services. (Again passengers were penalized with "starting fares".)

Instead, a more ideal solution would have been to have trunk line buses serving Wangsa Maju and all (Area 3) from KL Sentral. So passengers could have just got off there to take a trunk to Wangsa Maju, without having to waste time and money walking up the stairs and buying a new ticket or hopping on yet anoter City shuttle to take you to Titiwangsa.

The problem with Rapid KL's system is that it assumes EVERYONE lives in the suburbs and travels to the City everyday. Ok, maybe not everyone. But for the rest of the people who don't, Rapid KL's sorry that if you live in Ampang and you study in Subang Jaya, you have to take 2 trunk lines, a city shuttle and probably another 2 local shuttles. Otherwise take a more expensive LRT (change lines at Jamek including) and hop on another 2 local shuttles.

Or you can drive. If you can't then too bad.

Similarly if you live in USJ and work in Sri Petaling. Live in Taman Desa and work in Cheras. So close and yet so far.

Or if your Indonesian worker who lives in Datuk Keramat (many do) and works in Bangsar, and the LRT breaksdown, how? That's 4 buses. :)

So LRT breakdown? Hop on a bus? How? How many?

One small step for a man, the disabled stay at home

Says Peter Tan:

Malaysia is heading for exciting times as the nation celebrates its 50th anniversary of independence next year. Around that time, we will have a cosmonaut in the International Space Station (ISS) as reported in “Russia-bound astronaut candidates inspired after meeting Abdullah” (The Star, September 27, 2006). This puts another feather in the cap to mark our achievements as a maturing nation.

While we wait in anticipation for the day one of our own steps into the ISS orbiting 350 km above us, it is ironic that a group of people back home here in on Earth cannot move around conveniently, even for distances a fraction of that to the ISS.

In the haste to improve the public transport system in the Klang Valley, disabled persons are once again left out in the planning. None of the new Rapid KL buses are accessible to wheelchair users. Even senior citizens have problems boarding the buses because of the unfriendly height of its steps.

Disabled persons are disillusioned by empty promises. There was a protest in 1994 when it was apparent that STAR LRT was not accessible. 12 years later, wheelchair users still cannot use the trains because there are no elevators up to the platform, or use any public transport for that matter.

We are beginning to wonder if our needs will ever be addressed. Do we need to resort to staging demonstrations and protests again to get our voices heard? For what it is worth, it is an uphill battle for us all the way and all the time.

What does it take for the government to realise that accessible public transport is an urgent need without which we cannot do much. We have to miss out on education and work opportunities. This makes us even more disadvantaged.

The often heard excuse of not including accessible facilities is the cost factor. How can we put a price on the rights of fellow citizens? Public transport is for all, irrespective of physical condition. The needs of one group must not be at the expense of another. However, in the case of public transport, it looks like the needs of disabled persons are at the lowest of priorities.

As we anxiously wait for the first Malaysian to go into outer space, I urge to government to seriously look into the plight of disabled persons who cannot even get out from their homes. We should not look that far out when we have not even tackled challenges that are right in front of us.

Masyarakat Penyayang betul.

No Law

Malaysia is supposed to be run by the rule of Law. Not the rule of the Jungle.

Hell, even the people that are paid to enforce the rule of Law break those very same rules.

A very disappointed reader, Loke W, sent me these photos.

These were taken along Jalan Raja Laut today, 5 October 2006, between 9.30 and 11.30 a.m.

Jalan Raja Laut also happens to be Kuala Lumpur City Hall.

There is no Law in KL.


What bus stop?


There is no Law.


What Law?


No law.


Proud to be DBKL!


See the Jalur Gemilang? Get out of my way you mofo.


Blatant disregard of the law.


My car is bigger than yours.


I work for the government. Cekap bersih mesra.


Write me saman I dare you.


These vehicles, with the DBKL colours and logos splashed all over them were seen and photographed parking illegally at a bus stop and bus lane:

WNN 5190
WJX 7170
WLT 815
WMP 643
WNP 1859

Datuk Bandar, what are you doing?


Meanwhile, when I was passing Jalan Bangsar at around 6 something, a motorcade with police outriders, with the VIP car numbered ACS 1 (I think) rushed his/her way through traffic.

Yes, this VIP is definitely engaged with more important matters than the rest of us earthly scum (a.k.a. the Rakyat Jelata). Like berbuka puasa at Shangri-La perhaps?
Third world mentality. Third world government. Third world politicians.

____

DBKL says this and this:

PENGUATKUASAAN LARANGAN PENGGUNAAN LORONG BAS / TEKSI KEPADA KENDERAAN PERSENDIRIAN / PUBLIC NOTIFICATION
Tarikh : 4 Mac 2005

Polis Trafik Kuala Lumpur dengan kerjasama Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur akan mula menguatkuasakan peraturan larangan penggunaan lorong bas / teksi oleh kenderaan persendirian pada 7 Mac 2005 (Isnin).

Peraturan larangan penggunaan lorong bas / teksi kepada kenderaan persendirian ini telah diwartakan sejak tahun 1998 di bawah Akta Pengangkutan Jalan 1987 (Pindaan 1988). Ini adalah bagi melancarkan pergerakan kenderaan awam terutama bas dan teksi di pusat bandar. Sehubungan dengan itu, kenderaan persendirian adalah dilarang menggunakan laluan tersebut mulai jam 6.00 pagi hingga 8.00 malam setiap hari bekerja kecuali hari Ahad dan Cuti Am.

Kuala Lumpur Traffic Police and City Hall Enforcement Officers will be on duty on a regular basis to enforce the regulations pertaining to restriction of private vehicles utilizing the dedicated bus lanes in the city from 7th March 2005.

The law pertaining to bus lanes has been gazetted since 1998 to facilitate the movement of buses in the city. The general public, particularly vehicles drivers should comply with the bylaw Road Transport Act 1987 (Amendment 1998). Private vehicles are not permitted to use the bus lanes between 6.00 am till 8.00 pm everyday except on Sundays and public holidays.

Bilakah masa dan hari yang dibenarkan kepada orang awam untuk menggunakan lorong bas?

Hari-hari biasa pada jam 8.00 malam hingga 6.00 pagi.
Hari minggu - sebarang waktu.
Hari Pelepasan Am - sebarang waktu.
Kadar kompaun yang dikenakan kepada pesalah yang menggunakan lorong bas ialah RM300.00.

Of course. DBKL is not "orang awam" and not "kenderaan persendirian".

My Bahasa sucks, but I think the word is munafik.

Price discrimination

Study this table (borrowed from Wikipedia), and you'll learn why ERL's the masters in price discrimination.

	Sentral	BTS	Putrajaya	Salak Tinggi	KLIA
Sentral		RM4.20	RM9.50	RM12.50	RM35.00
BTS	RM4.20		RM5.30	RM8.30	RM26.50
Putrajaya	RM9.50	RM5.30		RM3.00	RM6.20
Salak Tinggi	RM12.50	RM8.30	RM3.00		RM3.20
KLIA	RM35.00	RM26.50	RM6.20	RM3.20

With too much time to spare, one can ride on the trains for cheap! Although I don't recommend you do it.

I hope that Rapid KL and other train operators can sit together to harmonize train fares (not a cartel please!).

Most importantly is the problem of "starting fares".

Then, there is the enormous potential benefits to routing plenty of traffic from down south into KL via the LRTs and the ERL. Much faster travel. And relieves all the headaches on the KTM lines.

Simple logic. Scrap the KLIA Express (28 vs 36 minutes!?). Currently per hour, 4 trains doing the Express, 2 the Transit. Meaning 6 per hour. Or once every 10 minutes.

Retain check in facilities and other premium KLIA Express frills, but introduce "standard class" by either adding additional rolling stock or ripping out the furnishings/upholstery of one (or two) carriages to make it "standard". More standing room?

On all trains, allow premium services to continue on normal (except scrapping EXPRESS services). Let ERL price these services as ridiculously as they like (like in the table above).

Regulate services on "standard class". How about Rapid KL paying a fixed annual compensation fee for the use of this carriage? Do the same with KTM Komuter, except the Komuter does not have a "premium" category.

Have Rapid KL treat KLIA Transit as a loss leader.

Win-win.

• Consumers - choice is good!
• KTM - less passenger congestion; focus more on operations
  
• Rapid KL - economies of scope from being able to supply many different types of public transport solutions (e.g. previous KLIA Transit users now able to continue journey in KL using same ticket/pass)
  
• ERL - minimize business risk i.e. constant flow of income; able to focus more on operational aspects as marketing/ticketing delegated back to Rapid KL

Harmonize fares such that same journeys cost same price on any mode. E.g. Bandar Tasik Selatan to KL Sentral costs the same on all modes. And unfortunately, I think that would mean ERL lowering their fares, while Komuter raising theirs. :(

Swimming trunks

Nah. Nothing to do with that today. Was thinking about "trunk bus services" (kinda like the topic of the day). And I just thought some kinky vocabulary can sex up a topic as boring as public transportation.

Pick up a copy of The Star today, turn to N48 to the Letters to the Editor pages.

Oh bother. I'll just copy the whole thing for you.

RapidKL needs to iron out problems

I REFER to the letter by Moaz Yusuf (RapidKL on the move, The Star, Sept 26). I wonder whether the writer had taken the bus before writing his comments. I have. (KLC: Ouch!)

I tried taking bus 616 from Kerinchi back to Uptown PJ; the first time I waited for 35 minutes, the second, more than one hour from 4pm and it never came (the stated frequency was 15 minutes). I called the helpline and was told that there would be two buses that day, and “maybe” the delay was caused by traffic jam.

These are some problems with the new system:

lThe design of bus routes: they have applied the LRT interchange concept to the bus system. KL Sentral, Uptown and 1 Utama are the stations for interchange. For instance, if I want to travel from Kota Damansara to KL, I have to take bus 613 to Uptown, then change to bus T82 to KL Sentral, then take another bus there or LRT to KL. Sounds simple? But, every change means another 10-15 minutes wait, or longer!

lThe bus fare: they have divided the buses to two types, green for short distances, (for example, Uptown to Bandar Utama) charging RM1, and blue for main routes (e.g. BU to KL Sentral). All tickets are one day passes which can be used all day long. But, if I travel from BU to Uptown, and buy a RM1 ticket which only the green buses sell, and on my way back should the blue bus comes first, I’ll have to pay another RM2 or, wait.

The bus routes are too complicated: they changed all the previous LRT feeder buses into green buses, and added another 25 bus routes (without having enough buses to provide punctuality). If it took me two days to understand the bus routes, how long will it take the tourists and illiterates?

PHOON H.B.,
Petaling Jaya.

I'll admit to you. I live in KL, not in the Selangor townships. In fact I live very near a busy main road. And I never need to travel very far to get to work. I never really need to use trunk services very much.

Phoon highlights 3 points. I think I've talked about one.

Point 3, about routes being too complicated, I have talked about the rubbish route information being posted up at places such as here, here, here and here. The people who need to understand the system find route information complicated, and those who don't need to learn the routes are those that would find it easy. Think: spider maps, journey planners, website

Point 1, about accumulated waiting times. IN THEORY, if all the buses are as frequent as claimed, I think the savings in waiting time can be achieved. Afterall, that was the main reasoning behind the revamp, no? Remember, the promise:

He (Rein Westra, CEO) said the local shuttle service will be available every 15 minutes and trunk service at every 10 minutes. He said the public is able to achieve a saving of minimum 10 to 20 minutes with this new network compared to the old.

But recently, Rapid KL officially changed some of its service promises. I'm not sure how this would help. Although I think, not at all.

If it is a fleet problem - go and buy more! If it is a shortage of drivers - what the hell is HR doing? If it is a problem of congestion - what happened to bus lane enforcement and talking to Bandaraya etc? And what are your consultants doing?

Point 2, why should I pay trunk fares when I travel short distance? In a nutshell, if you usually take a local shuttle (which costs RM1/day) for a journey and you see a trunk bus which is also heading to where you want to go, why can't I use my local shuttle ticket on the trunk?

(I like you Mr Phoon, because unlike most other people who criticize public transport, you point out the not so obvious. It's not all about buying more buses, adding more bus lanes, lowering fare prices, buying more train coaches la la la.)

This whole scenario points out why I am quite ambivalent about the new bus pass structure, where NO single tickets are issued. With regards to fares, it works pretty nicely IF everyone travels a lot. But for people who travel short distance, they are penalized. Either by the fact that they are making journeys that are worth less than what they have paid. Or because of the silly things that people have to do to make their passes worth it (like in the case Phoon pointed out).

There are many ways to fix this, but this is what I'd suggest (again!):

1. Make Touch 'n Go (or other stored value cards) the default payment system. No problem as the MyKad has the TnG embedded anyways. Also sell TnGs at newspaper vendors etc. And try to push for adoption of TnG as a universal payment system, as good as cash in Malaysia.
2. Reintroduce single fares and scrap Local/Trunk/City passes.
3. Introduce price capping. Once users make enough journeys in a day, card functions as a pass.
4. Reintroduce TnG readers at the rear exit of buses so that users touch on the way out, like in Singapore's buses or in the Cityliner. Do this so that Phoon and others can hop on a Trunk bus, make a Local journey and pay Local price.
5. Revamp the whole system-wide fare structure as well (including other operators and rail systems included). Abolish "starting fares". The systemwide fare structure needs to be rethought
   

I guess the whole point of Phoon's letter is that if Rapid KL really wants its bus system to be the successful (and I guess that would mean profitable, happy customers, high ridership) then it has to rethink how its operations need to be restructured, now that it has all the hardware.

Why I am so anti monorail

Read Wikipedia's entry on monorails.

Note a few things:

1. vehicles are generally smaller than other metros, thus higher cost per passenger mile.
2. mistakes in switching (changing "tracks") can be fatal - "derailment" being the vehicle falling off the track
3. evacuation problems in emergencies as there are no emergency walkways.
4. many other monorail systems in the world are at amusement parks.

Sounds quite true. Especially point 4, even in the case of KL.

What has been built in KL has been built, so no point crying over spilt milk. But I think that there should be NO MORE in KL. The Klang Valley is sprawling. Travelling long distances will take plenty of time, and opportunity to upgrade to Mass Transit standards is limited.

Maybe for Penang and JB, there is a case for it. But there is talk about including a monorail line on the second bridge to Penang.

Which brings up issue 2 and 3. Can you imagine being stuck in malfunctioning vehicle suspended over the open sea?