Sun : Public transportation role model
- From: Uncle Yap <yfyapspam@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 15 Apr 2008 09:25:23 +0800
The Sun
14 April 2008
Public transportation role model
Tan Siok Choo
HONGKONG is possibly the only city in Asia where owning a car isn?t a
necessity. For visitors and residents, getting to almost every part of
Hongkong island and Kowloon is easy ? largely because the territory?s
public transportation system, in particular, its underground mass
transit railway (MTR), is excellent.
Additionally, Hongkong is a pedestrian-friendly city. A web of covered
walkways, escalators and underground tunnels link a vast number of
buildings in Central, the main business district on Hongkong island.
For example, Hutchison House in Central is connected by a lengthy,
above-ground and well-covered walkway to Pacific Place, an upmarket
complex comprising a shopping mall, office blocks, three hotels as
well as service apartments.
Tough policies on car ownership have reduced even further the
propensity to own a car in Hongkong. These policies include
heart-stopping parking fees and the exorbitant cost of renting parking
space in apartment buildings.
In Island Shangri-la, for example, parking a car at the hotel?s car
park could set the owner back HK$60 (RM24.30) an hour for a minimum of
two hours. Elsewhere on Hongkong island, casual parking fees range
from HK$20-$25 (RM8.10-10.50) an hour.
For those who insist on driving to their offices on Hongkong island,
monthly rental for a covered reserved car park in Admiralty could cost
a hefty HK$5,200 (RM2,104) ? equivalent to renting an apartment in KL!
Hongkong?s public transportation policies have drawn the attention of
urban town planners elsewhere. At a conference some years ago,
Hongkong was described as a role model for sustainable mass public
transport by Peter Newman, professor of city policy and director of
the Institute for Sustainability and Technology Policy at Murdoch
University in Australia.
Hongkong compares favourably even with cities like Perth in Australia,
he said. In the territory, 82% of residents use sustainable transport
compared with just 15% in Perth.
Similarly, the passenger car usage rate in Hongkong was sig-nificantly
lower than Perth. It was estimated the average kilometres a person
travelled by car in Hongkong was just 930km a year compared with
13,500km in Perth.
Some may argue Hongkong?s public transportation policy works because
its population density gives the city a passenger volume that makes
its MTR one of the few profitable public transport systems in the
world.
Furthermore, with so many skyscrapers within a small area and with
most buildings owned by a single landlord ? Hong Kong Land ? covered
walkways are feasible in the Special Administrative Region.
While there is no denying the territory enjoys these advantages, the
overriding reason its residents shun using cars and opt in large
numbers to either walk or use public transportation is its integrated
transport policy. In contrast, Kuala Lumpur?s transport policy is a
marvel of disconnection.
A case in point is the Kuala Lumpur City Centre. Although several
buildings in the KLCC area are ultimately owned by the same holding
company, none of the buildings are linked to each other.
To go from Menara Maxis to Menara Esso, for example, the use of a car
is necessary ? unless a person is a dedicated walker and willing to
take the risk of arriving hot and sweaty. This is because there are no
above-ground covered walkways that will shelter pedestrians from the
sun and the rain.
Even the Suria KLCC shopping centre which is next door to the Mandarin
Hotel is linked only by a large overhead canopy at ground level. In a
heavy thunderstorm, pedestrians walking from one building to the other
are guaranteed a good soaking.
Given the fact the entire KLCC area was a planned entity from its
inception and its planners had the advantage of working on a "blank
canvas" without any existing buildings or other impediments, why
wasn?t priority given to making the entire area pedestrian
user-friendly?
Admittedly, the KLCC is linked to the city?s light rail system. That
the KLCC is one of the few major shopping malls in KL that enjoy this
linkage is puzzling.
Shoppers worldwide are potential heavy users of public transport. In
Hongkong, the MTR connects all major shopping malls and shopping areas
like Tshimshatsui in Kowloon and Causeway Bay in Hongkong island. The
same is true in Singapore and Bangkok.
In this country, because national car manufacturers rely on the
domestic market for sales, every encouragement is given to Malaysians
to own cars. Growing traffic congestion coupled with prolonged
gridlock whenever it rains suggests two facts that policy planners
would do well to consider ? first, car manufacturers don?t vote,
people do, and second, users of public transportation outnumber car
owners.
Views expressed in this article are the personal opinion of the writer
and should not be attributed to any organisation that she is
associated with. Comments: feedback@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.sun2surf.com/
*************From Uncle Yap**************
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