KUALA LUMPUR: Money is not the only thing commuters stand to save, in their shift from private vehicles to public transport.

With more and more city folk keeping their cars at home and taking various modes of public transport, chances are we may see clearer skies over the city in the not too distant future.

Faizal Parish, director of the Global Environment Centre, said a major shift from private commuting to public transport offered three core benefits to the environment.

"More people using public transport means fewer vehicles on the road and this will help bring down emission of greenhouse gases.

"Locally, vehicle emission is among the biggest contributors to smog, carrying many pollutants such as carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxide. This creates many health problems, so a move to public transport will help address these issues.
"A major shift to public transport also means that there is less necessity to build new roads as there would be fewer cars on the road. This situation would reduce direct environmental damage due to construction work."

Faizal noted that the green outlook of the current shift to public transport must be tempered with supporting and follow-up efforts from all stakeholders, particularly the government.

"Any improvement to the quality of life depends on how sustainable a shift to public transport can be made. Every year, there is an increase in new cars on the road.

"As it is, the stimulus for the shift to public transport has been the increase in fuel prices.

"What the government needs to do is to actively encourage people to use public transport and ensure that the public transport system is efficient and meets the needs of the people."

Citing Brazil as an example, Faizal said the South American nation established a dedicated bus lane for all roads going in and out of its cities.

"These buses have a very high level of frequency and are very efficient. It operates like a cheaper form of an LRT," he said, adding that the Brazilian bus system was constructed at 15 per cent of the cost of an LRT system covering the same route.

Faizal stressed that the government must eventually work towards decentralising the concentration of the urban population, by improving public transport outside urban areas to reduce congestion.

He added that the government could have paid public transport companies to give the public free transport for a year, for example, instead of the RM625 cash rebate for vehicle owners.

Faizal also suggested that LRT operators took the cue from developed countries and increased the number of parking bays available while not raising the parking fees.

Another idea was for a single integrated card that could be used with the various transport operators, to avoid the bother of buying multiple tickets, said Faizal.

He added that the standard of public transport, especially outside urban areas, must be improved.

"The government needs to take rapid action in giving incentives to public transport operators to improve their systems and services.

"In the current situation, commuters may get fed up with the poor public transport services and it will only negate any initiative to promote public transport."