The Malaysian Insight

THE Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is the first step in introducing a mass transit system to a city, which the Penang government can consider doing, a public transport expert told a public talk in Penang yesterday.

Yoga Adiwinarto, the Indonesia director of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), said the BRT could be the way to bring mass transit forward.

The BRT, also called a busway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to the reliability and capacity of a traditional bus system. The Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) also includes a proposal to introduce such a system.

Yoga said the BRT was an attractive and efficient public transport system, and could increase transport speed and cover wider areas compared with rail-based transit. It also triggers other urban improvements, like walking, cycling and urban development.

“You also don’t need a lot of investment to implement the BRT. It is easier to implement it right away,” he said at the talk “The Need for Sustainable and Equitable Mobility in Cities” organised by Think City.

Yoga illustrated his point with the BRT system in Jakarta, comparing it with the upcoming MRT (mass rapid transit) system, which was expected to be ready in March.

The US$1.1 billion (RM4.5 billion) BRT was introduced in Jakarta in 2004 as it could quickly be set within 12 months, and only needed funding from the city government, he said.

Jakarta, he said, was able to get its BRT system running without a foreign loan, even at a time when it was facing financial constraints due to the economic crisis years ago.

The BRT covers 225km and carries 700,000 passengers.

The US$1.4 billion 16km MRT, on the other hand, took 10 years of planning and four years to build. It is expected to carry only 135,000 people per day when it starts running.

With US$1 billion, Yoga said a BRT could cover a 426km corridor, compared with 40km of LRT track, 14km of an elevated MRT and 7km of an underground subway.

“If you have limited budget, then you have to invest it wisely. And you want to invest it now.

“You have a problem to fix now. Who knows whether you will still be chief minister or the mayor in another 10 years. You have to make sure you can do it now,” he said.

But Yoga added this did not mean cities that have introduced the BRT should stop there.

He said the transport system was symbiotic, meaning other modes of public transport could be introduced to run alongside the BRT.

“I am not saying don’t introduce the LRT (light rail transit) or MRT after implementing a BRT system.”

He said Jakarta introducing a MRT despite already having a BRT system for the last 15 years did not mean the latter had failed in its job to get people around.

He said a combination of both transport modes was good for the city.

“If the mayor of Jakarta did not decide to build the BRT back then, 700,000 people in the city would not have had a good transport system to use all these years.”

Yoga said the BRT system could be replicated by Rapid Penang, which would have to improve its frequencies and shorten waiting time at bus stops. – January 17, 2019.