Penang Watch

July 03, 2008 18:00 PM      

Govt Urged To Establish Dedicated Public Transport Research Centre

By Syed Azwan Syed Ali

KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 (Bernama) -- The government should establish a dedicated research centre to enhance the quality of the public transport sector in the country, an expert said.

Prof Dr Abdul Rahim Md Nor, a professor of Human Geography at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), said coming up with a public transport quality index and a public transport cost index should be among its top priorities.

"The proposed public transport commission (by the government) will require a centre of excellence to carry out research. "Basically, the centre will complement the commission by suggesting plans and strategies," he told Bernama an interview on Wednesday.

He said the centre should also be tasked with establishing a comprehensive database on the public transport sector in the country.

The database must include everything, from maintenance and operation costs of vehicles and fuel cost to passenger volume and fare prices .

The cost and quality indexes, he said, could comprise of at least 30 items such as safety, frequency, comfort level, access to information, passenger volume and fare price, as the research indicators.

"Today, we don't even have the data for the Gombak to Setapak bus route. So how are we going to understand or even address the bus (public transport) issue effectively without having the "nuts and bolts"," he said.

Abdul Rahim also said the centre would need to establish research stations, similar to those of the Department of Environment, to study and monitor the quality of the public transport delivery system.

About 50 research stations would be needed for every 100 bus routes, he said. "The stations will indicate what are the problems faced. With the information obtained, these can be zeroed in," he said.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Institute of Transport (Mitrans) director, Associate Professor Sabariah Mohamad, when commenting on the proposed public transport commission, said it should be chaired by either the Prime Minister or the Deputy Prime Minister.

She said stakeholders including government agencies, operators, academia, professionals and experts must be involved in the commission to achieve the objective of a fair model split of 70 percent of trips by public transport and 30 percent of trips by private car for all urban areas.

On the suggestion about the public transport research centre, Sabariah said a regular budget would be necessary to ensure continuous research and positive output.

"The government can take advantage of the existence of Mitrans in getting policy research done," said Sabariah.

Mitrans is a centre of excellence that concentrates on research, consultancy and training for the transport and logistics industries. The institute is actively involved in public transport research through its Public Transport Research Centre led by professional lecturers and researchers.

Sabariah said for a short-term measure, the government should immediately look into the delivery of public transport services and the condition of the industry.

"The government should also acknowledge the importance of understanding public transport travel component starting from a passenger walking from home to the bus-stop, waiting for the bus, in-vehicle time, destination stop and walking to final destination.

"Efforts to ensure a safe and comfortable journey must be done," she said.

In the longer term, Sabariah said a Public Transport Plan and a Public Transport Masterplan must be formulated for the development of effective public transport in all areas.

-- BERNAMA