Sustainable Development and Worldviews

What kind of public transport should Penang have? Elevated Light Rail Transit (LRT), on-ground trams, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), or others? That’s the question some members of the public are deliberating as the state government works on the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP). Many views have been shared from various perspectives, for instance on construction and operational cost, ridership, safety and traffic efficiency. What I find lacking is the passengers’ comfort. Which mode of public transport is the most comfortable? I decided to find out by commuting using the different modes of public transport in the Klang Valley. I started with the LRT to USJ 7, then I switched to the Sunway BRT until Setia Jaya where I transferred to KTM Komuter to KL Sentral. Then I took the monorail to Bukit Bintang to change to the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT). So in one day, I experienced five different modes: LRT, BRT, Komuter, monorail and MRT. Here’s my take on each mode, starting with which has the mos...

Critics claim that Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) was originally estimated at RM27 billion, before SRS increased it to RM46 billion. Although many have explained this before, but this wrong info still going around. From this wrong info, critics created other allegations such as the purpose of the increase is to benefit developers or cronies. Want to find out why the current PTMP estimated at RM46 billion? Simple, just remember 3 things: 1) SRS Consortium's submitted RM27 billion estimation Actually SRS proposal submitted for the open Request For Proposal (RFP) tender was not estimated at RM46 billion, but at RM27 billion. This was widely reported back in 2015, when SRS won the bid.  [https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2015/08/14/gamuda-gets-pdp-job-for-penang-project, http://www.thesundaily.my/news/1521374, https://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1846212&page=3] 2) Increase to RM46 billion because of added components The increa...

Developing and sustaining public transport is expensive. This is true for most countries around the world. An expert from London’s Centre for Transport Studies recently claimed that the Penang state government will bear RM1.2 billion in losses if the ridership of the Light-Rail Transit (LRT) falls below the estimated number for ten years. It is of course ideal for public transport to be financially sustainable without government grants and subsidies, such as the Hong Kong MTR system. However, ideals turn idealistic when based on the wrong assumptions. Almost all good and elaborate public transport systems require expensive upgrades and operational costs paid by the government. For instance, the operational cost of Curitiba’s Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system has to be paid for by the government to cover the accumulated RM1.3 billion financial loss incurred in seven years (2010-2017), while Bogota’s BRT needed the government’s financial aid of “hundreds of millions of pesos per ye...