[2015] WHEN the first MRT line and the LRT extensions are completed next year, 57km of new fixed track public transport and 86 new stations will be added to the existing Klang Valley rail transport system.
Supporting this fixed track system will be an integrated and coordinated system of feeder buses serving the hinterland of each station.
These additions will increase the total length of the passenger rail system within the Greater Kuala Lumpur area, which presently comprises commuter rail (KTM), light rail (LRT), express-rail (ERL) and monorail, to some 370km of twin track.
The projected passenger flow forecast for this system more than doubles the existing daily flow of 465,000 passenger trips.
While these achievements and their projected statistics represent a significant step forward in the Government’s Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), which includes the policy of increasing the proportion of travel by public transport and decreasing road congestion, they are only the initial stages of a comprehensive transport planning programme for Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley.
Subsequent plans are emerging for the construction of MRT Line 2, the MRT Circle Line, the Federal Highway 2 Bus Rapid Transit system (BRT) and the expansion of the stage and feeder bus fleet in order to build up an integrated, comprehensive, multi-modal public transport system for the Kuala Lumpur conurbation.
The Land Public Transport Commissioner (SPAD) is tasked with the formulation of the overall public transport strategy, relevant master plans and policies to ensure an on-going successful implementation.
With the exception of Kuala Langat, Kuala Selangor, Sabak Bernam and Hulu Selangor, the geographical coverage of the Greater Kuala Lumpur Public Transport Master Plan will extend to Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and all the Selangor districts.
With such a coverage, the initial routing pattern for fixed track public transport is logically radial in pattern, to be followed by an orbital line around Kuala Lumpur city centre. This line, which is currently known as the MRT Circle Line, will be some 40km in length with about 50 stations
Overall, the Greater KL/Klang Valley Land Public Transport Master Plan being prepared by SPAD shows a target total of 496km of rail network with more than 270 stations. Within the plan area, this would increase our railway network to a figure of 34km per million population.
An international comparison with major cities in other countries is fairly revealing, though it should be noted that these figures do not fully reflect population density and the area involved. Beijing’s corresponding figure stands at 29km/million population; Moscow, 28km/million; Seoul, 28km/million; Tokyo, 37km/million; and Hong Kong at 41km/million population.
The Kuala Lumpur target figure was adopted by a Government study carried out in 2009 for subsequent inclusion in the 10th Malaysia Plan. There is no doubt that this foresight will benefit travel efficiency and the economy, while greatly enhancing the city status and longer term economic prospects for the nation.
Because public transport demand patterns are dynamic and interact with development trends and social economic profile changes, they must be monitored and the future proposals subject to constant review and update.
Despite all the good work and progress that has been achieved by the MRT and LRT construction projects to-date, some lessons have emerged from the implementation procedures and there are other factors that need further consideration to in the ongoing development of the rail system.
Experience shows that in some cases, the selection of the optimum engineering solution for an alignment without due consideration of the environmental and social factors of property demolition, noise and visual intrusion can provoke considerable public reaction and resistance.
The Jalan Sultan, Taman Tun Dr Ismail and Bandar Utama objections may be just the precursors of such problems that can arise when public consultation is not involved in the decision-making processes. Perhaps in future, more attention could be given to these important aspects, even though it could mean increased costs and some adjustments to the time scales.
Public consultation at the design stage could not only reduce any resistance, but could lead to better and more acceptable planning solutions
Within the Klang Valley context, a radial rail system will tend to focus too much emphasis on the city centre. This could lead to peak overload and unpleasant congested travel conditions in the centre. It also tends to cause further inflation of city centre land prices.
A radial system also means that rail travel between suburbs has to pass through or interchange in the city centre, bringing extraneous unnecessary traffic into the most congested area. To counter this, the Circle Line becomes an essential feature, but its location leaves the strong possibility that the radial routes could still become overloaded at peak times.
To mitigate against this, it is suggested that the Public Transport Master Plan should take steps to plan and make land reservations for additional circumferential routes. Due to the dynamic nature of transport demand and the highly mobile population in Klang Valley, the inclusion of more orbital linkages may be more desirable if the master plan is extended to cover Kuala Langat, Kuala Selangor, Sabak Bernam and Hulu Selangor.
Such a “wheel and spoke” concept also creates great long-term planning opportunities for siting high density development nodes at multi-modal transport hubs where radial and circumferential lines cross.
The development of such nodes will create new high accessibility centres that will begin to take the pressure off the city centre and produce more balanced travel demand patterns. Furthermore, to counter the inefficient unbalanced tidal flows that a radial system can generate, the Transport Master Plan must be fully integrated with the Land Use Master Plan to incorporate attractive travel nodes located at or towards the end of the radial transport routes.
This will create more balanced two-way directional flows that make full use of the available two-way capacity. Appropriate development at these outer nodal points could take the form of industrial estates for small businesses with high employment or even out-of-town shopping complexes.
Another aspect of the rail passenger transport system design for the Klang Valley which could be given further consideration is the overall system concept. Current MRT and LRT design has frequent relatively closely spaced stations within the urban fabric to maximise accessibility. This is logical and sensible in high density corridors within easy travel times to the city.
However, the frequency of travel stops is a major factor determining overall travel times on fixed track systems. With the present concept and station spacing, travel times from termini to city centre will be well over an hour.
To extend such a system to the whole of the Klang Valley without some interlinking, high speed and limited stop provision would give rise to excessively long travel times and be a relatively inefficient way to proceed.
The master plan should therefore consider the possibility of introducing such high speed routes along the valley’s main axes. A logical way to achieve this may be to fully incorporate some KTM lines as dedicated people-movers and an integral part of the LRT/MRT system. Where reasonable alternative routes exist or corridor capacity can be increased, this could involve the segregation of rail freight and passenger rail, thereby allowing a more frequent higher speed public transport service.
The Klang Valley and Kuala Lumpur represent the heart of the nation and the main showpiece for Malaysia’s place on the world stage. High levels of public transport accessibility and reduced traffic congestion are essential requirements to help lift the city’s rankings in the international scale of “city liveability’. Let us continue the good work and ensure the best outcome from the Klang Valley Public Transport Master Plan.
I believe that the current master plan would probably need to look at some suitable orbital linkage and bring its implementation timeline forward to disperse and radiate the supply pattern. The orbital public transport movements were briefly mentioned and its peak demand were forecasted in the SPAD master plan, however, the predicted demand volume were generally low.
It may be due to lack of adequate input land usage development data from relevant district or local government. The accuracy in establishing this movement will have the direct implication on the radiating pattern currently dealt with.
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 1980s. Since then, he has worked on several major transportation projects for Federal and State agencies as well as local authorities and GLCs.