QUOTE(Tookia @ Jul 30 2012, 02:49 PM)
Most of the time when I drive along the Federal Highway during peak hours there are very few buses. So how does the bus lane help the jam during peak hours? The jams are caused by the huge volume of cars mainly. So brain solution.
Not bus lane, this is BRT. BRT is bus lane with LRT-like ticketing and operation.
Congestion are caused by cars. Naturally, you may say road expansion.
However, there are numerous cases that road expansion will not be able to cater future traffic growth. An extra lane will end up being congested in just 2 to 3 years after completion.
An example that shows how road expansion will be futile shown in Bandar Utama. Bridge on top of highway near Damansara toll plaza had been upgraded to 3 lanes from previous 2 lanes. Yet it still take 20 to 30 minutes just to travel 2 km along Bandar Utama. This example clearly shows road expansion will not work. Many people drive due to poor public transit. Yet if we have to made it more convenient, if you want to lure people to take public transit.
If public transport made fast and convenient, people will take it, because monthly cost will be lower than driving, provided if you have efficient public transit network.
Emphasis should be done to improve public transport. You say few buses. However, even if you introduce more buses, the average speed of bus will not increase because:
- Buses have to compete against cars in mixed traffic
- And so buses will be just as slow as cars
- Having more buses in such mixed traffic congestion will not aid congestion reduction
And so, the advantage of having BRT is that:
- Buses will only occupy one lane of highway in each direction
- The average speed of buses can easily raised to 30 km/h per hour, much faster than cars on highway during peak hour
- Bus will be more reliable as they have their own lane as well as the fact only BRT type buses will be allowed on the line, ensuring frequency and punctuality
This way, public transport option will be more attractive as it will be faster, more frequency and more reliable. Proven in Curitiba, Guangzhou, Jakarta, Bangkok. So why not KL?
Doing road expansion will only solve congestion in short term, but not in longer run. By that time, later you may ask...............another expansion.
This post has been edited by Kampung2005: Jul 30 2012, 03:00 PM