The Malaysian Insight

JOHOR will next month start the early phase of a landmark public transport project in the wider Johor Baru area aimed at reducing congestion, boosting businesses and reducing the cost of living.

The 51km Iskandar Malaysia bus rapid transit (IMBRT) system will see major roads in the state’s capital city upgraded with dedicated lanes for special buses.

Publicity materials show the road’s middle lanes will be cordoned off from other traffic for special stations and designated lanes for the buses to run on.  

“Think of it as an MRT (mass rapid transit) system but with coaches that run on the road rather than on rails,” IMBRT programme management head Mohamed Amin Haron told The Malaysian Insight.

The system is based on models that have proven successful in more than 100 countries and is a viable alternative to more expensive, rail-based systems like the MRT in the Klang Valley.

Compared to the RM21 billion Sungai Buloh-Kajang MRT line, also around 51km long, the IMBRT will only cost RM2.56 billion.

Amin said IMBRT will next month begin simulating traffic conditions ahead of construction next year.

During the simulation, the middle lane of Jalan Skudai to Jalan Tun Abddul Razak, the main artery from Skudai to Johor Baru city, will be closed off. This will be the route of the IMBRT Skudai line.  

Jalan Terbrau, which will be the route to Tebrau, will also be closed to traffic. The simulations are expected to last for a month. 

“When the MRT was being built in the Klang Valley, it caused massive traffic congestion and there was a lot of anger. So learning from that experience, we want to get people ready,” he said.

The IMBRT project was launched in October 2017 and is part of Putrajaya’s larger aim of boosting the Iskandar region – an economic corridor encompassing the southernmost tip of Johor bordering Singapore.

The corridor of manufacturing, education and property hubs stretches east to west from Pulau Kukup to Pasir Gudang, and north to south from Senai to Johor Baru city.

Putrjaya will fund about RM1 billion of the total RM2.56 billion cost and private-public partnerships will pay the balance.

Like similar systems that have been successful in Bogota, Colombia and Jakarta, Indonesia, the IMBRT will run on pre-existing federal roads, in this case in the wider Johor Baru area.

IMBRT will have three main lines:

* Iskandar Puteri which runs from Medini (in the west) to Skudai Kiri (near JB city);

* Skudai-Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (in the north) to Skudai Kiri; and

* Tebrau-Desajaya (in the east) to Bukit Chagar (next to Customs Immigration Quarantine complex).

There will also be buses with direct routes such as from UTM to Skudai Kiri with no stops in between and there will also be smaller feeder buses that connect to the main lines, said Amin.  

The first line, Iskandar Puteri, will likely be ready ahead of the others which are targeted at 2022.

When completed, it is expected to improve public transport coverage in the Iskandar Malaysia region from 39% to 90% by 2025.

Contrary to local expectations, IMBRT buses are not the hot, noisy, smelly stage buses with ripped up seats usually found in Malaysian cities, said Intan Darlina Muhammad, who heads IMBRT’s communications and stakeholder engagement.

Rather, the main buses resemble the sleek, modern coaches of MRT lines.

“They will be air-conditioned, spacious and have WiFi. That is our biggest challenge – to change people’s minds about the BRT and to get commuters to leave their vehicles at home and use it.

“We don’t want to build something that people will not use,” she said. – August 17, 2019.