[2015]   THE success of greater Kuala Lumpur in its drive to become a city of high international ranking is an achievement for the nation to be proud of, but at the same time it should not disguise the fact that there are elements that have caused growing problems.

Prime downtown areas are increasingly being targeted for redevelopment by developers, and while this is to be favoured, in many instances, it can create a land price bubble.

 
Inflated land prices require developers to seek higher plot ratios to ensure financial returns, and these are often in excess of the approved town plan, especially statutory parking requirements.

This in turn increases traffic that can overload the existing street infrastructure capacity.

 
The resulting mega-projects bring with them the need for changes in design approach and regulation to control adverse traffic in the city .

The Government has reacted to the increasing congestion by spending billions of ringgit on the MRT and LRT public transit lines and their supporting feeder bus systems.

This is admirable but the real problem is how to make use of the new systems to return some sanity to the road network and a balanced approach to travel that enables the creation of high-amenity planning precincts similar to those in Singapore and other cities.

Any measures that force rather than encourage change in travel modes are likely to be met with resistance as currently, many of the economic and legislative procedures are aimed at furthering private transport mobility.

The motor industry has subsidised to a degree and fuel prices are still relatively cheap.

Car and motorcycle hire-purchase arrangements make vehicle ownership relatively easy, and the inevitable outcome is more vehicles on the road and congestion regardless of urban conditions and alternative travel provisions.

Compared with present public transport, the private motor vehicle has much to offer. It provides a convenient, reliable, cheap, door-to door, safe, environmentally secure travel mode, protected from the heat and tropical downpours.

For most, the current alternative of crossing roads, waiting for public transport, soaking deluges and perspiring heat cannot be contemplated.

The only way for public transport to overcome these disadvantages without undue coercion is to create a city design where the number of opportunities for public transport travel within a controlled environment is maximised.

The MRT and the LRT provide a good basis for this. High density, mixed-development zones focussed on transport nodes are beginning to be created, but it needs to be formalised as part of the town planning system.

This brings us back to the role that down-town, multi-purpose, mega projects, served directly by high-capacity public transport, can play in the required changes to travel mode and town planning transformation.

The current guidelines were drawn up several decades ago when private transport was in its relative infancy.

These standards have served the community well but, today, applying some to the mega-projects would run counter to good town-planning and need to be reviewed.

In particular, statutory parking requirements for the number of off-street parking spaces and the current standard practise for estimating vehicle trip generation should be reconsidered in light of the local circumstances.

Currently, local authorities generally allow a Transit-Orientated Development (TOD) status with a higher than normal plot ratio density for a development served by public transport, but the statutory parking requirement is rarely compromised, even where there is the case for reducing traffic volumes.

As drivers, we have all visited establishments where the parking layout is so contorted in order meet the parking numbers at any cost that driver comfort and ease of access is lost.

Such layouts should be avoided and alternative possibilities should be looked at, such as looking at parking on a macro level and getting developers to work together to create joint facilities.

Another aspect that must be looked at is parking pricing policy, as it currently favours shorter term visitors and penalises long-term parking.

The standard procedure set out for assessing the traffic impact of new developments is based on the Highway Planning Unit’s Traffic Generation Manual, which in turn is based on vehicle trip rates that relate to the size and nature of the buildings surveyed in 2001 and updated in 2005 and 2010.

Then, buildings tended to be smaller and mostly of single-purpose use. When the vehicle trip generation rates for such buildings are applied to large multi-purpose developments, there is the danger that they could overestimate traffic generation by failing to account for a proportion of the customers making a single trip to accomplish several errands.

They also do not allow for any change or reduction in traffic generation in a situation where a building has direct access to a high-capacity public transport lines.

An update of the trip rates and a review of the application methodology to make it more specific to local circumstances would avoid the problems that taking a blanket global view produces.

The opening of the new public transport systems will be a very auspicious occasion for the City and the opportunities created for improving the traffic and transport system should not be jeopardised by not undertaking a review of standards and regulations.

> Goh Bok Yen is an urban land-use/transportation planner who worked for an international firm in the UK before returning to Malaysia in the 1980's. Since then, he has worked on several major transportation projects for the Federal and State agencies as well as local authorities and GLCs.