Selected Highlights of Mid-Semester Holiday Escape Down Under to KL: Urban Mobility.

Alt. Title: Beeps, Next Station... and Mind Your Step: Exploring Public Transport in Kuala Lumpur.

Prologue: Just as my inspiration and motivation to write anything in at the lowest ebb, I dwell and drowned in procrastination and lethargy, mind paralyzed and castrated, thesis remain untouched and of course this blog woefully neglected. I need fuel. I need concentration. I need the spark. I need to bulldoze the towering writer's block and looming sloth. *sigh*

My apology yet again for the prolonged silence. Those (few) of you who followed my whereabouts closely on my online presence in social network probably were informed that I went for an one week escape down under to Kuala Lumpur during my mid-semester holiday. Those who know me well enough probably knows that I actively loathe and avoid Kuala Lumpur (and by extension, Greater Klang Valley Conurbation) and the mere thought of just spending time in KL lest actually living in it struck fear into my mind. I think of KL as an massive, unnavigable, capitalistic, deafening, shallow, crime-ridden urban blight, teeming with millions of faceless, weary souls of varied origins and foreign labour. Which is odd because growing up as a child of Mahathirism, Kuala Lumpur is exciting probably because I was young and impressionable and most of the time I went to KL is for family holiday visiting paternal relatives for a short period of time. It was only during my late teen-young adult in which the prospect of actually studying/working/living in peninsula actually looms as well as yearning for better appreciation of life culminated in the simmering emotion against Kuala Lumpur and Klang Valley. Perhaps my parochialism and insecurity of being someone from and currently staying a smaller cities (Kuching and Penang) has got the worst of me. Different dimension, different locale, different sound, different tongue (especially Cantonese!),  I am out of my comfort zone, so to speak.

Enough of tangent dissecting about why I don't get along with Kuala Lumpur. Anyway, my cousin's wedding in which my whole family will be attending has finally necessitated a visit down to Kuala Lumpur. With the wedding day on the very final Sunday of the mid-semester holiday week, I've ample time to go around and actually spent time staying in Kuala Lumpur/Klang Valley on my own (ok, still with my younger brother). I would say at the end of my week of escape down in KL, I actually gained a new found appreciation about Kuala Lumpur that there's always a hidden gem if you look hard enough beyond all those negative facades and I actually do feel glad that we made this trip down to KL. (Kuala Lumpur itself that's improving does play an important role) Of course, going of for an holiday means ample material to be blogged about but just to streamline all the materials, I am going for a different approach by arranging them into selected themes and highlights instead of going through everyday of the escape post by post. (For those of you who can't wait for all the posts considering how fickle my mind is, here on Facebook are all about our times down at Kuala Lumpur and one further excursions.)

This post's theme as per title is all about urban mobility, how public transports in Kuala Lumpur/Greater Klang Valley greatly aided me in making sense and making my way here and there. While Kuala Lumpur and Klang Valey being the nerve center and the most heavily populated region in Malaysia has the best public transport system and infrastructure in Malaysia, it was marred with lack of synchronization and connection between different modes of public transport and operators, iadequate maintenance of basic infrastructures, inconsistencies in scheduling, lack of information available for public and not to mention unable to cope the rapidly growing number of patrons especially during rush hour. (ff people can still have lot to gripe about KL public transport system, imagine how worst public transport system is in other regions in Malaysia!). After years of chaotic and frayed planning however, things finally heading up for the better. Just to give credit where credit is due, GTP launched by the current Federal Government entails massive investment in urban public transport especially in Greater Klang Valley Conurbation (*pssst* in which most MPs there are from federal oppositions) by upgrading existing infrastructures and building more rapid transit lines. Regulation of public transport has been streamlined as well with the formation of SPAD taking control of all public transport affairs in Peninsula while RapidKL has been building their capacity as a public transport operator by integrating public transport modes under one roof which enable interlining at line exchanges, common ticketing and information system as well as expanding their fleet. Meanwhile, KTM Komuter has finally acquired new longer trains to replaced their aging fleet as well as improving their (horrendous) scheduling and making modest extension to cover central peninsula. Hopefully all these improvement would finally encourage even higher ridership and reduce over-reliance of private automobile to go around as well as a more systematic, integrated urban planning. Most importantly of course, more and balanced investment of public transport in other regions as well.

To start off my public transport tale Kuala Lumpur, let's talk about the first point of contact of anyone travelling by express bus, the more frequent and widely used mode of transport for going across various cities and towns in peninsula - express bus terminals in KL, specifically Puduraya/Pudu Sentral and Terminal Bersepadu Selatan Bandar Tasik Selatan.

Ahh Puduraya. The focal point of people from all walks of life and point of origin, travelling in and out of Kuala Lumpur. It's also infamous for being overcrowded with people constantly, gridlock around the surrounding area, stuffy without air-conditioning, dirty and woefully maintained. Worst of all, it's littered with those rowdy ticket touts with their massive walkie-talkie to talk to their colleague who will pester you as soon as you step into the terminal in which any further contact means that he will stick around and pesky to be shaken off, beggars and "social workers" whom you're not sure whether it's real and just swindlers ready to fleece you off and of course, pickpockets. Going through Puduraya is almost like going through shock therapy of experiencing Kuala Lumpur and being in the pre-upgraded Puduraya before, it was CRAPSHIT HELL. Fast forward to now and after upgrading work for sometime, Puduraya has finally improved its image, firstly by being christened a new name, the terribly cliche-d Pudu Sentral (urgh.) and addition of UTC (Urban Tranformation Center, essentially additional government service counter for various functions), improving organisation of floor plan by  moving the ticket counters up another floor and having a larger waiting lounge and most importantly, air-conditioning! Most importantly, Pudu Sentral currently handles only buses heading northward while buses from other region go to other terminal thus reducing the crowd and gridlock tremendously (most story on that in the next picture). One remnant of Puduraya still remains though - the fucking relentless touts in which I was trapped at a counter (while checking for tickets to come back to Penang) for a moment while I am trying to shake him off sternly. I found the whole experience of being touted horrible and demeaning.

...which is why I find TBS Bandar Tasik Selatan a whole lot more comfortable and convenient to go through. TBS Bandar Tasik Selatan currently handles all the buses coming up or going down southward (so we have to go through here when we gone for our Malacca excursion) and it's also integrated with RapidKL LRT Sri Petaling Line, KTM Komuter and KLIA Transit line. Besides the usual cleanliness and airiness of terminal, the key feature that really improve accessibility and convenience for travelers is definitely how they integrate schedules and ticketing of different bus companies (save for a few renegade one who opt out) within the same operating system which allows TBS to put up centralized ticketing system that only require the patron to specify time and location whenever they want to purchase tickets that also enables self-purchase ticket machines to cut down the line in front of manned ticket counter not to mention travel information display that's up to the minute and most importantly, the total absence of tout which enables the travelling public to travel safely and comfortably. Definitely a big thumb up for TBS and I just couldn't fathom why Puduraya haven't implement this despite upgraded.

After settling down at my family apartment at Puchong, let's go around Kuala Lumpur on public transport!

Staying/living at Puchong which is not served by rapid transit (yet, because RapidKL LRT Sri Petaling line is currently expanding towards Puchong.), bus has become the most frequently used mode of public transport when I am down in KL/Klang Valley. As luck would have it (and I would say, sound investment from my parent), there's a bus stand right in front of my family apartment and it is served by a bus that goes directly to the heart of city at Pasar Seni which also has a RapidKL Kelana Jaya Line station. From the demolished Klang Bus Stand, a new public bus terminal (top left and center) was built to house  RapidKL buses more systematically. Unfortunately at the time of writing however and even though the main structure has already completed, it's still not operational and all the bus has to clog the street beside it.  Nonetheless, the bus information signboard has finally gone online at selected major bus stop such as Midvalley Megamall bus stop (lower center) which provides estimated arrival time bang to the minute. All RapidKL buses are also equipped with GPS enabled Touch n Go sensor (lower right) which allows cashless payment so no more being stuck in front of the bus driver and growing lines searching for small change. Then again, who cares about small changes when you can travel for free! GO KL City Bus (top center and right, lower left) currently operates two lines so far and it covers major throughfare in city center from Pasar Seni, Bukit Bintang, Pavillion and KLCC. Its travel information is intergrated with RapidKL's system as well (justified because all the buses are subbed from RapidKL) hence available on information board. It can safely be said that Go KL City Bus is inspired by CATBus by RapidPenang covering Georgetown core and definitely a great addition to any major cities.

I take LRT compartively less this time but interlining between Sri Petaling Lines and Kelana Jaya as well as Monorail by RapidKL has certainly improved transiting from one line to another more convenient firstly by integrating interchange stations (currently three stations - Masjid Jamek (KJ and Sri Petaling line), Hang Tuah and Titiwangsa (Sri Petaling line and monorail) under a single station and allowing changing line without exiting station. This has also allows the passenger buy just one ticket to travel from your starting station to your ending station even if it involves changing line. Of course with Touch n Go, Rapidpass and MyRapid Card, all you need to do is to tap in at your starting station and tap out at your destination. I got to experience the benefit of interlining travelling from Puduraya (via Plaza Rakyat LRT Station, left) to Pasar Seni LRT Station via Masjid Jamek Interchange (third from left) thus saving from lugging my heavy luggage walking all the way to Pasar Seni (it's actually not that far from each other though.). Meanwhile, Pasar Seni (right) will become an interchange station as well when KVMRT is completed and the construction site is adorned with infographic about the benefit of MRT. Quite nicely done I would say. I also took LRT from Pasar Seni to KLCC during the day I meet with my highschool besties/tauke over there...

...in which he brought me traversing through busy metropolis by walking, utilizing the newly completed KLCC (Kuala Lumpur Convention Center. Suria KLCC is connected via extended underground pathway too)-Bukit Bintang Pedestrian Walkway to Pavillion. Air-conditioned and with numerous exit points along the way, one can walk to your desired destination while avoiding hot sun and traffics along the way. I wonder will this pioneering system will grow into a full-fledged pedestrian walkway system.

In the end, KTM Komuter is the most frequently used rail transit system throughout my one week holiday in KL, taking us to and from Midvalley KTM Station to TBS Bandar Tasik Selatan as well as all the way to Kajang for an food excursion for Sate Kajang. However in comparison with RapidKL LRT, KTM Komuter still have a lot of catch up to do even with the arrival of their new train.  The upgrading work of their ticketing system has been long delayed with their automated gates and ticketing machine sits nonoperational at stations and one has to wait in line in front of the counter to buy tickets. Their scheduling, while improved, is still unsatisfactory with constant change of arrival time hence never on time. On the day we came back from Malacca heading back from Bandar Tasik Selatan to Midvalley, our train were idling for half an hour or so in the middle of Salak Selatan and Seputeh due to "operation problems" probably due to bottleneck over KL Sentral (just one more station further up from Midvalley) dealing with the rush hour commuters heading out from the city center.

If there's any gripe that I want to talk about public transport in KL/RapidKL is definitely their rather confusing cashless payment card system: currently there are three different types of cards that can be used for different RapidKL modes of public transport namely your normal Touch n Go Card (Oh did you know that the new IC is integrated with Touch n Go? Just top it up at any LRT stations or selected ATM machine! Too bad I've only enjoyed the convenience of it two days before the holiday ends but definitely will use it more often next time. I do have to consider the risk of loosing it though. I wonder can it be used for highway as well) which can be used anywhere that's equipped with Touch n Go sensor, Rapidpass by Touch n Go in which its usability depends on types of card you choose for (either just bus, just LRT, integrated LRT and Bus as well as concessionaire card for students and senior citizen) and Myrapid card, usable only for LRT and Monorail. (I bought this card that I have here as soon as I reached Plaza Rakyat for novelty purpose and the feel good factor of tapping in and out like a first class commuter. The sensor at the automated fare gate however is a bit wonky that I have to carefully tap it in order for it to read it properly) I am still wondering what's with the need to use duplicate card for the same function especially between Rapidpass and Myrapid Card. Was there conflict with Touch n Go and Myrapid which denied Myrapid card to be used on RapidKL bus? Either way and until RapidKL sort out this issue, Touch n Go is definitely the safer bet for commonality. Plus, there's no discount offered travelling with any of the normal, non-concessionaire cards anyway. Come to think of it, what's going on with RapidPenang's own cashless payment system. It has been test running it for years now at Corridor 2 but there's no sign that it will be rolled out systemwide? Is the plan shelved? Considering that RapidPenang buses are equipped with GPS already and there is a sole information signboard over Komtar, when are they going to put out electronic information signboard for bus stops?

Last but not least, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude for MyPublicTransport as well as RapidKL in collaboration with Google Map for integrating their bus route information in their direction (try Direction -> By Public Transport) which allows me to plan ahead. (Though Google Maps calculation of route is not correct all the time so I still have to rely to MyPT as well as RapidKL for a proper route just to see if the bus  route does pass through the location I am heading to.)

Which theme should I cover in the next post? Food (Glorious Food...?) or Sights?