Public Transport

In this day in age, public transport is a very viable means of combating the global warming issue by lessening the number of vehicles on the road. It is a means of reducing the economy of the dependence on fossil fuel and decreasing the fossil fuel emissions in a country.

But all that aside, I can't for the life of me see this as a realizable option given the state of the Public Transport Service in this country.

For anyone who is a frequent user/commuter, surely you would understand my plight.
Anyone frequenting the routes from Jalan Genting Kelang, Setapak to the TAR College, TBR area should know. Sometimes the busses do not go straight to the TARC main entrance then on to UTAR. Instead, the busses might turn at the first junction opposite the TARC side entrance.

Now this is really annoying. One should be warned if the bus driver plans to do so. If I was warned, surely I would get on a bus that goes through the route I prefer. It is just plain misleading to say you ply a certain route, but make changes. For that small change, one may have to walk an extra 15 minutes. Not to mention that the busses are not on time, wastes time waiting for the bus to fill up to the brim, then makes a mad dash for the next main destination. Here that would be the Wangsa Maju LRT station.

If the bus companies want to be competitive, lower your prices and such, go ahead. But I for one would not mind paying a little extra 20-30 cents for a cleaner better bus, which keeps to schedule and is more user friendly. Here, the busses charge 70 cents to 1 ringgit. The RapidKL feeder busses currently boast a RM 1 a day service. You get on, pay RM1, then for the rest of the day, go on unlimited rides within the local circuit. Just show your ticket for the day. These, I think are the currently the cleanest (newest) busses around.

In second place, is Metrobus. These busses are new with an okay crew of conductors and are currently using the route I prefer. Note that the new bus means better air conditioning, good working radio/speaker systems and comfortable seats. Old busses have small, cramped seats. I just can't figure out why. Were people in Malaysia smaller 5-10 years ago? I do not think so. I have often observed that people younger than myself more than not very short. I have however taken into account the fact that I am 183cm in height. But really, some of these guys are really small. Maybe the busses now are just plain wider.

In last place, albeit being the cheapest of the lot, is Len Seng Bus Company. The busses are old, air-con is like its name; a con. The air conditioning is really pitiful. They would do better to set up small fans inside. They can then charge the 60 cents for non air conditioned busses. It’s a scam. You want to charge less? Fine, just make sure you don't give me a under quality service. Because then, it would not be a cheaper service. It would just be a different service. Bah. With the number of busses plying this route, surely they can cater to the demand. But wait, they can not, because most of the busses waste time waiting, so when a bus from the same company come along, they just zoom by, and let the other bus pick everyone up. This is very bad and inconvenient for the public. We pay the same charge to pretend to be sardines in a smelly bus with miniature antique seats. But back in the day, they were just plain seats.

Sigh. Vision 2020. Seems like the people are trying very hard to make that 3030. Go figure.

08-06-2006 Thursday

Whoa! Hold up there. Remember the RapidKL service? An additional note, they don’t have conductors. I did say the busses are new, but only other factor in a service outside of the equipment is off course the person controlling it. Here is what matters.

Today, while on this particular bus service, I noticed that some passengers were trying to get off, the buzzer/bells were not working. Additionally, when 2 passengers were getting off, one hesitated and because of this delay, the driver made IMHO some rude comments. Now the bus was on the wrong side of the road because there were a line of busses blocking traffic (they were waiting for passengers). This would not have happened if the passengers had ringed the bell early so that the driver could stop behind the other busses. This off course was not possible.

So, all that money spent on new busses is ruined by slack in maintenance and rude, untrained drivers.

On a different note, I realized that earlier, I had failed to mention another bus service, the Permata Kiara service. Basically, this service is a competitor to the Len Seng service. (cheap, old busses for low fares) I only hope the overall service and the industry in general will improve.

In light of the upcoming World Cup 2006 Deutschland, some Malaysians have expressed their hopes that someday, our national squad may be in the finals. Or perhaps Malaysia could soon be the host of the event. I say? Not. Not until the people change their attitudes. But what do I know?