Here We Go Again

News in March from Southeast Asia: Kuala Lumpur again announces that they are going to have one smartcard that will work on all trains, and Jakarta restarts and then shelves their monorail project in a single week because Indonesia apparently does not invest in infrastructure.

My prediction: Kuala Lumpur will gradually add services to its smartcard system, and make an major announcement for each one. Malaysia will have full rail connectivity, including one high speed rail line, before Jakarta even starts on a public transportation system. If I am wrong, I hope that it is Indonesia that proves me wrong. Lots of Indonesian citizens would benefit from more infrastructure investments.

Here is a link with a little history of Kuala Lumpur's buses and trains: The Integrated Approach to Solving Transportation Woes and a video of Kuala Lumpur's monorail (which should have been a conventional train so it could have been expanded and connected into the rest of the rail system).

Rail Pass for the Klang Valley

If you are visiting Kuala Lumpur or any other locations in the Klang Valley, RM150 ($45) buys a month of trips all transit operated by owned KLRapid. This includes Kuala Lumpur's monorail, the Kelana Jaya and the Ampang light rail lines, and all RapidKL buses. Called the RapidPass Integrated, it is for sale at all light rail stations and at major bus hubs.

In the past few years, the government of Malaysia has been taking over transit in the Kuala Lumpur metro area. The private entities that developed ran transit and built the light rail lines, did a poor job making it difficult for people to depend on the transit system. The result was one of the lowest rates of transit use in Asia as well as severe traffic problems and pollution.