According to an article I read in The Star, apparently only 16% of Malaysians take public transport.
That's shocking! I mean when I was in London, almost everyone I knew took public transport but fair enough, I'm ashamed that I'm one of the 84% of Malaysians that don't take public transport.
Prior to this the only times I take public transport is when I try to escape the jam. Like after work on Fridays, instead of trying to fight the jam out of the city, I take a Monorail to Pavilion to watch a movie.
By the time my movie is done, the jam has gone from this
to this
It makes a big difference.But I never take public transport to go where I need to go. *Sigh*
I'm just drive.
So today I had a few meetings all around the city and I decided that I was going to take public transport or walk to my meetings. My first meeting was a lunch meeting with a client at KLCC and just before I was about to leave... heavy rain struck.
And when I say heavy rain... I mean HEAVY RAIN!!!
I quickly saw it as an opportunity to justify me taking the car but I decided that NO... I have to be true to myself.So I went down to my car, grabbed my umbrella and started walking to the nearest LRT Station with Robb who was coming with me for the meeting.
Just before I left the office, Yee Hou asked Robb
"Eh raining... do you need to borrow my Ela Ela Eh Eh..."
The things some of my colleagues think about sometimes. (Ela Ela Eh Eh = Umbrella ... think Rihanna).So okay armed with my umbrella I was on my way.
The thing I noticed about walking is... that you really get to see everything when you walk.From the messed up empty lots
to the disgusting giant monsoon drains that I'm sure is radioactive at some point.
Walking around KL City was a lot harder than the walking around I did in London.
For one, the roads here were a lot broader than the ones in London so cars here went really really fast.
If I earned RM0.50 for every time a car nearly ran me down while I was crossing the road, I would be a very rich man today.Not too long later, after stepping on a lot of puddles I finally reached a bridge that was going to take me to the Dang Wangi LRT station.
Simple stuff.All I had to do was go and buy a ticket from one of these machines costing me RM1.30
Then head over to the trains.
Then it was time to let the waiting begin.
I must've seen two trains on the other side past before mine finally came and before I knew it....
Taddaaaaa I was on board.Not too crowded a train even for lunch hour.
And soon enough, we were at KLCC.The whole trip cost me only RM1.30 and took me just as much time as it would have taken me to drive there and park my car.
Not to mention parking at KLCC would easily be something like RM10 after the many hours I've spent there and around the nearby buildings for my meetings.
So there you have it.Malaysian public transport is not entirely useless.
It works... it just needs a wider network.
After the client meeting I went to the office of one of our Nuffnang law firms to meet one of the partners there.
Seeing my umbrella he asked
"Did you walk here?"
And I said
"Yes... times are bad... couldn't afford to fill up my car so I decided to walk instead".
Then he said
"HAIH!!! I was thinking of charging you a bit more for this thing we just did for you because we had to put some extra time into it but okay lah... since you so poor thing".
I gave him Bambi eyes.
SEE!!! I SAVED A LOT OF MONEY TODAY BY WALKING AND TAKING LRT!!!
37 comments:
I've been using public transport 5 days a week for the past 3 years. Seriously, not that bad, especially when our highways become "red dragons" aka super packed every morning and evening.
Suckiest part would be cramming with everyone like sardines in a can. After office hours somore, with all the sweat smell and who knows what else. *shiver*
lulz.. sell of your beemer.. get a viva.. :P
i took public transport whiel we were in college for a while boss but gave up.
Bus to bangsar lrt station = RM0.50
bangsar lrt to kl sentral ~ RM1.00
KL sentral to Subang Jaya ~ RM3.00
Total time spent....... 1 hour 30 minutes including time waiting and walking back from subang KTM station. LOL
haha boss. congrats!. good post to support public transport
No LRT in Kuching. Sho sad..
My house area no bus station.
My office area also bus station.
If I were to use public transport, I've to take either Taxi or Van Sapu o_O
Sorry, mentally exhausted o_O I mean *bus stop, not bus station..
Hahaha. That empty lot looks familiar. It's beside Maison. :P
Malaysian public transport is not that BAD, it's the patrons of the public transport is BAD. Graffiti, handphones playing Mp3 at max volume and of course, bad body odour omgggg. Can faint.
Haih... if only in Sarawak there's monorail/LRT/train/subways etc. Bus? Riding a bus here is like riding a pick-up on a rocky mountain plus with odor from hikers to add to your pleasurable journey. Nasty
am I the only one wondering who the camera lady is?
electronic: yeah well i guess.. it's either we cram in the train for 20 minutes or sit in the air-conditioned car burning fuel for an hour.
tsen wen: ishh I drive a City!
boss lepton: yeah in some areas it's really hard to use public transport
genova: haha yeah yeah
ahlost: hahaha van sapu!!! i think that wan also naik now the price
jyushing: yeah it is beside Maison
bal: hahaha lol.. okok.. fine not as pleasant in some other parts of the country.
ky: it's Robb lah!
Haha. Wait till you try the buses. I tell you, can cry one.
Bravo on your efforts!
it really fascinates me how public transportation can make things interesting. =)
hmm u actually make it sound not too bad... well i'm pro public transport here. like u, i jus find that the network isnt big enough. ;) good on u for trying this out.
dr.tan: i used to take public bus when i was a student. take it after school to go to girlfriend's house last time and that was teh old bus wtihout any air con wan okie. but okie.. i shall try rapid kl1
sheryl: hahah! see.. it's not so bad... i think it's not too hard to get around the golden triangle area in the city cuz it's pretty well connected
roshann: yes yes... it ain't too bad.. go for it
immi: haha yes yes.. i think they'll improve it and soon enough, we can bring that 16% to 50%. heck if the network was bigger, i would really use it a lot more often... we also prob need to fix our crime rate so people feel a little safer walking on the streets at night
why only body odour and fart smell are the only thing concern? what about girls walking in the streets, getting rob, rape, kidnap, etc etc. THAT is the main reason why public transport is not popular, no?
getting robbed? :D hahaha.
It's only convenient if u r going around KL city center.. if u wanna take the public transport to, say.. Shah Alam (where I used to work) from KL, u r gonna be so screwed XD
And yeah, the lrt networks here are like baby toys compared to London's Subway..
i'll be depending on public transportation when I get to KL tomorrow. Anyway, I think public transportations at time not we dowan take, but hard.
For example, from my house to the nearest bus stop, I have to walk a few roads, danger myself with stupid fast drivers and also dogs. T.T I vow to learn up my driving soonest. Cuz it sucks!!
ps: I live in Penang la
welcome to MAH WORLD!! hahaha i've been taking public transport since like erm.. 4-5 yrs ago?? hahahhaha
I just got back from Gold Coast and was reminded again why Australian transport is so successful:
1. Busses are always on time.
2. Even if there are two passengers on the bus, the bus still goes. Instead of trying to wait for half-an-hour for more passengers.
3. There are many, many stops, almost one every 500m.
4. You can get to the most remote places by bus.
I wish Malaysia was like this.
by taking a bus i need to walk atleast 20mins from my hse, waiting for another 15 to 30mins for the bus...
but if very SOI! the bus wont pick me up! shit happens sometimes...
sometimes if SOI! again! the bus wont stop at the right place
...
thats how it goes in Kuching..
ive waited for a bus for 3 hours...the bus din come...in the end i walked back from town...
took me 3 hours plus..got home at 4am...
It's good to travel using public transport when your office is near the LRT or Monorail. Too bad Damansara Heights don't have that.
Well, why we don't use public transport? That is because of network. 10 years ago when I started work, and 10 years later today - there is NO CHANGE at all.
If I want to take public transport to work, I have to walk 30 min to the main road (no bus stop also), wait perhaps 30 min to get a bus. Ride 60 min to KL downtown, wait 30 min for connecting bus. Another 30 min to get to my office. Total = 2 to 3 hours. Driving? 20 minutes. You see!
Trains? Okay, maybe 30 min walk to main road, 10 min to Komuter station, 30 min to KL Sentra, walk 10 min to get connecting bus, 30 min to office. Total = nearly 2 hours.
I lived in Singapore before, and I loved their MRT system. I never missed my car when I was there, but definitely Malaysia public transport system needs improvement.
I wonder if Nuffnang will go into the public transportation business and build a train station right beside my house in klang to my office in mont kiara -__-!!!!
I hate the fact that I have to spend so much on driving damn it, and it's not like I have a choice sigh
maybe in 5 years time, we can hear this in the LRT: Stesen berikutnya, Nuffnang XD
Correction on my previous comment: London UNDERGROUND, Subway is the fast food chain ~_~"
Eerr...I take it you're gonna be inspired and start taking LRT from now on?? ;-)
lynnz: yeah that too.. something has to be done about the crime rate
robb: yes that too
real: yeah london rulez!!!
ping: hahaha okok so you need a wider network
joshua: so u damn pro now lar.. memorize all the stops di lar
david: maybe we just need more time
t-mo: hahaha if SOI hahahaha hilarious lar u
simon: yeah haha too bad
suzette: yeah.. sigh okok i guess they need more time for sure
david: haha no lar.. where got the capital for such a big project
real: lol
mis: haha yes ok lrt! not all the time but whenever convenient enough i shall!! or until they have better networks
Is this the RM99,999.99 campaign from Mr Pee-em?
Seriously, the public transportation in Malaysia is not reliable. I have waited over an hour for a bus which is supposed to have a frequency of 30 minutes. To make things worse, the bus driver doesn't bother to open up the door to allow passenger waiting to enter. There we were, sweating, cursing and continue feeding the mosquitoes.
Maybe you should experience the "down-time" these services "offer" every once in a while. To top that up, try being in an lrt/train that malfunction suddenly in the middle of a bridge. No power, no air-con and no air to breathe. I was fortunate to experience this once. Someone from the train company came to our "rescue" after god knows how long. That rescue was in the form of opening the windows to allow some air to get in.
Many are forced to own a vehicle because they have no other choices. If the public transportation is reliable, the number of cars on the road *may* decrease, thus leading to less traffic jam.
We'll just need to wait for that day to come. Many many many more years to come, that is...if ever.
I took the LRT for the first time since I got back, yesterday.
During rush hour.
From Dang Wangi station too.
In one word: sardines.
Damn scary wei. People were looking at me coz I didn't want to be rude and just squeeze into the train.
They better build the Damansara Line quickly!
I took the LRT for the first time since I got back, yesterday.
During rush hour.
From Dang Wangi station too.
In one word: sardines.
Damn scary wei. People were looking at me coz I didn't want to be rude and just squeeze into the train.
They better build the Damansara Line quickly!
pls go check tim's facebook status yo!!!
Thumbs up boss!
roflmao... where got.. i only remember the stops dat i have to go to... ><
ky hahahahhahahahahhahahahhahahahahhaha saya nampak
Before I first came to kl, I always drive.. easy ma..always thought that public transport is hard to handle & ma fan!
BUT look at me now! I take LRT to work everyday then switch to Rapid KL bus...If I'm lucky to catch the free shuttle bus, BEST!
Ppl back home just tell me "UNBELIEVABLE". To me, it's a routine now! Malaysia public transports are not as bad as many ppl think... so wanna save petrol? try it!
TIM, WELL DONE! =)
Try getting on the LRT around 5pm. LOL!
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