Penang Watch

Below is a an email I just sent to RapidKL regarding RapidPenang. I hope
this is publish on your website for more attention and get some comment
and discussion. Please do not publish my email and my name though. Thank
you very much.

Hi. I am a Penang student currently studying in Melbourne, Australia. I am
extremely excited by the launch of the Public Bus Service, Rapid Penang in
the Penang State. I would like to congratulate RapidKL for being able to
implement a public bus system in the Penang State, and would like to
particularly compliment Rapid Penang for all the new buses and
meticulously planned routes. However, I would like to make a few
suggestions:

1. Rapid Penang website
In the days leading to the official launch of Rapid Penang service, I have
been searching the Internet for an official Rapid Penang website. Sadly I
couldn't find any. This is deeply troubling as in this era of information
technology, most newer generations as well as tourists from developed
countries would rely on the Internet to find information about Penang, how
to get about in Penang, and especially the public bus system. Although
Rapid Penang have been pasting posters and erecting information boards on
important locations, I personally think this is not enough. I have read in
the news that there are some 100000 thousands booklet being distributed in
the days leading to the launch. If we take into account the population of
Penang State as a whole, I think one can conclude that 100000 booklets is
a minuscule amount.

I would suggest the website of Rapid Penang to be designed to be user
friendly. Australia can several websites for public transportation system
Rapid Penang could refer to, namely MetlinkMelbourne and Translink (for
Queensland). In my opinion, a very important feature which would see the
increase in public bus usage is the Search Function in those website. The
search Function could easily find where you want to go, which particular
stop, down to the time of arrival at destination stop as well as the
origin. This would make the bus service more "easily accessible" to
everyone. This function should be implemented on the RapidKL website as
well.

In addition, this website would contain the official booklet for the bus
services, different lines, time of arrivals and all the information in PDF
format so people can download and view it on the computer. This would
complement the search function mentioned.

The website also needs to have contact numbers and addresses of the depots
so people can forward their comments and suggestions, as well as complaints
to Rapid Penang. These should be attended in the fastest timeframe possible
as I believe that customer service is one of the most important component
of a company, no matter how small of big it is.

2. Ticketing System
I am not sure what the current ticketing system is in the buses of Rapid
Penang. In order to make it more convenient for the general public to use
the public buses, I propose a system similar to the one implemented in
Singapore. Of course, the normal cash ticketing on bus should be present,
but a card system would make it much simpler. When one board the bus, they
flash the card on a machine. When they disembark, they would do the same
thing again. The fee is then calculated based on the distance travelled by
the bus user. If however they do not flash their card when they disembark,
they would be charged a maximal summon (of certainly much more than RM3).
The fee would be automatically deducted from the card.

This type of card can be the Malaysian MyKad, or a new card introduced by
Rapid Penang. Such card would have cash in it, and can be topped up. It
can be used together with other services as well, such as the monorail and
the ferry service in Penang. Smart Information could be carried in the
card, such as Age, Student Concession, or Senior Concession so the
discount would be automatically calculated as well. This would make the
ticketing system faster and much more efficient, while reducing the cards
people have to carry around.

In order for the cross-implementation of the card on other public
transport system to be a success, I think the Penang State government has
to intervene and introduce this new system.

3. Infrastructure
One of the things that I have read in the news is that Rapid Penang has
about 1000 bus stops in the state. I think each of these stop should be
given a number, or a code to enable searching on the internet. In addition
to that, the state government, together with Rapid Penang must erect an
information pole that tell the public to hail bus there, as well as the
bus lines that pases through that station and the estimated time of
arrival. On bus stations, proper bus stations should be erected. Again, I
have to refer you to the Australian (especially Melbourne) system for the
example to do so. Bus stations do not have to be expensive, but they do
not have to be ugly. The Penangites would be content with beautiful yet
simple and elegant bus stations. Properly designed bus stations could
significantly boost the income of the company as well as The stations
could be used as an effective way for advertising. Of course, This would
not be the old fashion stick-on posters. A system is needed to guard the
advertising posters, as well as change the poster easily and efficiently.
Local laws should be implemented such that "Stick No Bill" strictly means
so, and offenders would be prosecuted.
In reference to some news about buses waiting for passenger, some buses in
Australia do wait a certain amount of time (10 minutes or so) in particular
stations. Of course, such stations would be of importance and would have
the necessary infrastructure as to not obstruct the traffic. Sometimes,
waiting for passenger is important so that passengers do not need to wait.
This system is particularly important when the timetable of the buses,
ferry and all public transport are synchronised. Buses should wait until
the passengers who disembarked from the ferry or monorial to borad the bus
to save time and increase efficiency.

(Attached with this email is the photograph of Bus Stop pole and Bus
Station)
- Hide quoted text -

4. Customer Service and Satisfaction
In order to provide a good service to the public, customer service and
satisfaction is extremely important. I would suggest some form of strategy
to check the quality of the buses itself as well as the service. For
example, plain-clothes officer could be hired to make sure everyone who
board the bus flash the card, to regularly check if anyone is using
fraudulent card (such as working class using a card with student
concession) and to check if the bus service is on time. In this context,
the participations of all groups are important. Strategy could include
public bus user going to the Rapid Penang website to report any
unsatisfactory performance and rewarding the users to do so.

Information officers should be hired and be educated, instead of giving
the public the booklet about the service. If a bus user is uncertain of
how to go from Point A to Point B, the information officer should be able
to guide the user through the process.

The combined effort between the Penang Government and Rapid Penang could
see posters and advertising material that educate the locals on the
effects of cars on pollution and global warming, as well as the potential
savings from using the public transport, and ultimately encouraging more
and more public transport users. In the news Rapid Penang is said to have
50000 bus users. From a state that has nearly 1.5 million inhabitants, I
would say this is totally negligible and unacceptable.

The things that I have proposed are of course only the tip of an iceberg.
I sincerely hope some of the public transportation systems from developed
countries, particularly Europe and Australia, be studied and implemented
in Penang with a local flavour. This is of utmost importance in propelling
Penang towards a much higher standard of living, as well as a developed
state.