PM SAYS MENTAL SHIFT NEEDED FOR GREATER USAGE OF PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

PETALING JAYA (Malaysia), April 1 (Bernama) -- Malaysian Prime Minister Najib
Tun Razak said today efforts to step up usage of public transportation demanded
a drastic mental shift in the people.

He said a major factor was the need to change the perception that public
transportation was only for the low-income group and lower strata of society.

"It is amusing that some (Malaysians) have no qualms about using public
transportation overseas but hesitate to take the LRT or bus back home because
they regard it as less glamorous or prestigious," he said in his speech when
launching the 1Malaysia four-coach train for the Kelana Jaya route, at the
RapidKL Subang Depot near here.

The prime minister said there could be probably other reasons for such an
attitude, such as the weather and coverage of service at a particular time.

"Nevertheless, if such factors were weeded out, will the people be prepared
to shift to public transportation than use their own vehicle?" he asked.

Najib said that in reality, greater usage of public transportation depended
largely on the acculturation and attitude of the people, apart from the
government's efforts.

He said the public transportation network should be able to support economic
growth, increase in population growth and diversification of urban activities.

"For the government, the primary objective or target is to raise the number
of
people using public transportation to 25 per cent by 2012 and improve travel
time, comfort, accessibility and state of interdependence," he said.

He said the Government Transportation Programme (GTP) roadmap had underlined
several areas of focus in realising the National Key Results Area to upgrade
urban public transportation, among them stepping up the quality of travel on
public transportation from the time the commuter stepped out of the house up to
the final destination.

Several measures would be implemented to achieve this, among them improving
the KTM Komuter and LRT capacities by 1.7 to four times.


Najib said 850 buses would be added on to improve the coverage of service,
and more than 50 new routes would be introduced to increase connectivity, in
tandem with the development of an integrated transportation system.

He also said that a single ticket would be introduced for use on the bus,
LRT and monorail.

Besides, more than 6,000 parking lots would be provided at 14 train stations
and the feeder bus service would be improved, he said.

Three major integrated transportation terminals would be established with
the aim of restricting the entry of heavy vehicles to the central business
district, he added.

-- BERNAMA