KUALA LUMPUR: The government's initiative to introduce an on-demand van service to resolve first- and last-mile connectivity is commendable, but there is a need for more strategies to increase public transport use in the long term, experts say.
Universiti Malaya urban and regional planning expert Dr Noor Hashimah Hashim Lim said in the long run, the government would need to look into increasing walkability, cyclability and overall active transport.
She said the on-demand van service was a short- to medium-term solution to ease the public into using a public transport to achieve a modal split of 50:50 (public versus private vehicle usage) by 2030.
"In line with Malaysia's National Transportation Policy 2019-2030, increasing public transport modal share is one of the key benchmarks for achieving an improved transportation system in our country."
She said the Transport Ministry might have started the on-demand van service initiative because it reported in 2018 that private transport use was at 79 per cent compared with only 21 per cent for public transport use.
She said hotels and new property developments were introducing similar services to increase the attractiveness of their properties.
Malaysian Public Transport Users Association (4PAM) president Ajit Johl said the initiative was a commendable first step.
He hoped that more allocations would go towards ensuring more vans for areas far from public transport.
"4PAM is glad that the ministry is addressing or rolling out measures to help with last-mile connectivity, which has always been the bane of public transport. It's definitely a positive move in the right direction.
"The RM50 million may not be enough. We hope the ministry will look at increasing the allocation in the next budget.
"I'm assuming the RM50 million is for a pilot run and more funds can be allocated for the on-demand van service."
He said the government could seek advice from public transportation companies on the proposed routes for the van service.