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BRT Sunway Line

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B1 BRT Sunway Line
BYD battery-run electric bus approaching SunU-Monash halt
BYD battery-run electric bus approaching SunU-Monash halt
Overview
Native nameLaluan BRT Sunway
LocalePetaling Jaya Selatan (PJS 8) - Bandar Sunway - UEP Subang Jaya (USJ 7)
Transit typeElevated bus rapid transit
Number of linesB1 (Dark Green)
Number of stations7
Operation
Began operation2 June 2015
Operator(s)Rapid Bus Sdn Bhd
Technical
System length5.4 km (3 mi)
System map

Greater KL / Klang Valley Integrated Transit Map
Source: SPAD as at September 2016

A dynamic route display showing e-bus at the current halt.

The BRT Sunway Line is a bus rapid transit (BRT) line that is part of the Klang Valley Integrated Transit System servicing the southeastern suburbs of Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. This line is operated by Rapid Bus and was introduced in 2015 to service the high-density areas of Sunway and Subang Jaya, replacing an earlier proposal plan for the now defunct Sunway Monorail extension.

The BRT buses have an exclusive right-of-way on an elevated guideway that is not shared with normal road traffic. This specially-dedicated and grade separated guideway for BRT Sunway Line buses is almost similar to rapid transit elevated railways. However, bus operators other than Rapid Bus, do not have the rights to use it and there is no ramp available from at-grade roads to the elevated guideway.

This closed system is dedicated for a high volume of commuters to avoid congestion. However, this system can only be used along the 5.4 km track between Setia Jaya and USJ7 terminals that allow for passengers' interchange to rail transit.

The BRT system has received   Bronze rating by BRT Standard score from Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP).[1]

Line information

Halts

Code Name Notes
 SB1  Sunway-Setia Jaya Connecting station to  KD08  Setia Jaya. KTM Komuter's Template:KLRT lines
 SB2  Mentari In front of Sunway Mentari Business Park and walking distance to Makmur Apartments on Jalan PJS 8/9
 SB3  Sunway Lagoon 300 meter walking distance to Sunway Lagoon theme park and Sunway Pyramid shopping centre
 SB4  SunMed In front of Sunway Medical Centre
 SB5  SunU-Monash In front of Monash University. BRT Depot and Multilevel Car Park located beside the station.
 SB6  South Quay-USJ1 Behind Mydin USJ 1. Near Casa Subang Apartment and Impian Meridian
 SB7  KJ31  USJ 7 Interchange station to Rapid KL's Template:KLRT lines

Bus Fleet

In February 2014, BYD won the bid to supply 15 new battery-run electric bus for Prasarana Malaysia. The buses use a lithium iron phosphate battery which is fire-safe and non-toxic, in-wheel hub motors and regenerative braking. There are no caustic materials contained in the battery and no toxic electrolytes or heavy metals and the battery can be completely recycled. The source said that the buses are very quiet and ensures a comfortable ride without vibrations, jerks or noise associated with the conventional buses and combustion engines. The bus can also drive for more than 250 kilometres (160 mi) even in heavy city traffic on a single charge.[2][3]

Other information

Background

Bus rapid transit (BRT) is a transit system that utilises dedicated bus lanes, universal access stations, integrated pedestrian access, rapid boarding and high service frequency. It is a fairly new concept in Malaysia although it has been implemented successfully in cities such as Bogotá, Colombia; Jakarta, Indonesia, and Curitiba, Brazil.[4]

BRT Sunway is a public-private partnership project between Prasarana and Sunway Group to provide a better and integrated transit service for the residents and commuters of Bandar Sunway and USJ.[5] The line costs RM634 million and is 70% funded by Prasarana, 15% by Sunway Bhd and the rest by Unit Kerjasama Awam Swasta (UKAS), a facilitation fund.[6] The system uses eco-friendly electric bus services on elevated tracks [7][8][9][10][11] and connects major areas within the areas such as hospital, commercial areas, shopping centres and universities. The system is expected to provide services for 500,000 residents.[4][12] The elevated bus lane is said to be the first elevated BRT in Southeast Asia[13]

Features

The dedicated elevated busway runs isolated from traffic congestion from the Sunway-Setia Jaya Station, which is located near the KTM Setia Jaya Komuter station (linked by covered pedestrian walkways), and ends at the USJ 7 Station of the Kelana Jaya Line extension, where there is "paid area to paid area" integration between the LRT and BRT service by virtue of the BRT platform sharing the paid area of the concourse of the LRT station.

The bus will complement both line by providing the linkage to various forms of public transports. There will be 15 environmentally-friendly buses as they are electrical-powered and travel on a speed of 30 km and 40 km per hour on average. The electric buses will not have any gas emission and can operate for 12 hours before the next charging cycle with a range of 250 km or 23 trips per day.[14] The electric buses are designed to look almost like trains.[4][12][13][15]

The BRT stations are built with a modern and contemporary design, which include universal access facilities the disabled community such as tactiles for the blind, ramps as well as low ticket counters. Safety features at the stations consist of closed-circuit TV cameras as well as pedestrian bridges so that commuters can cross from one platform to another with ease. SunU-Monash halt has park-and-ride facilities with a total of 1,153 car parking bays, which includes 102 special bays for lady drivers and 23 for the handicapped group, and another 121 bays for motorcycles.[4][13][14][15][16]

According to Prasarana, the ridership for the entire line is forecasted to be at 2,400 riders per hour for 2015 and is expected to reach 5,200 people every hour in 2035.[14][16]

Services

The BRT service was officially launched to the public on 2 June 2015. Rides on the BRT are free for the first two months beginning 2 June 2015. A flat rate of RM4.00 will be charged at the SunU-Monash station park and ride facility from 2 June to 1 August 2015. The electric buses will be available every four minutes.[17][18] The ebus service takes around 30 minutes on full loop journey between BRT halts of Sunway-Setia Jaya to USJ 7 round-trip.

The latest fare has been announced on 1 August 2015 as followed:

Station Setia Jaya Mentari Sunway Lagoon SunMed SunU Monash South Quay USJ7
Setia Jaya N/A RM 1.60 RM 2.30 RM 3.00 RM 3.60 RM 4.50 RM 5.40
Mentari RM 1.60 N/A RM 1.60 RM 2.30 RM 3.00 RM 3.90 RM 4.70
Sunway Lagoon RM 2.30 RM 1.60 N/A RM 1.70 RM 2.30 RM 3.20 RM 4.00
SunMed RM 3.00 RM 2.30 RM 1.70 N/A RM 1.60 RM 2.50 RM 3.30
SunU Monash RM 3.60 RM 3.00 RM 2.30 RM 1.60 N/A RM 1.80 RM 2.70
South Quay RM 4.50 RM 3.90 RM 3.20 RM 2.50 RM 1.80 N/A RM 1.80
USJ7 RM 5.40 RM 4.70 RM 4.00 RM 3.30 RM 2.70 RM 1.80 N/A

Criticism

Affordability

Since the new fare was announced in August 2015, the BRT Sunway Line has been heavily criticised by passengers for its steep and unaffordable prices compared with other public transport services operated by Prasarana.[19] For instance, travelling on the BRT Sunway Line from one end to another (USJ7 to / from Setia Jaya) would cost passengers RM5.40 (cashless ticket), traversing 5.4 km in distance. In comparison, one would be able to travel from USJ7 to Gombak on the Kelana Jaya Line, covering a distance of more than 30 km. The National Public Transport Users Association (4PAM) went as far as to call the rates “shocking”.[20]

It has been reported that E13,000 people rode the BRT when it was free during its initial months in June and July 2015, but the number of passengers has since drastically number declined to 4,000 when the fare was introduced.[21]

However, Prasarana has repeated maintained that its fare is relatively low, given the high maintenance and initial cost involved, in addition to various cashless payment options available with discounted fares.[22]

  • Sunway Pyramid is one BRT Sunway Line route. Photo showed the defunct Sunway Monorail 3 km steel-tracked loop system.
    Sunway Pyramid is one BRT Sunway Line route. Photo showed the defunct Sunway Monorail 3 km steel-tracked loop system.
  • Platform 1 signage at SB5 SunU-Monash station towards SB1 Sunway-Setia Jaya station.
    Platform 1 signage at SB5 SunU-Monash station towards SB1 Sunway-Setia Jaya station.
  • BRT Sunway Line elevated guideway
    BRT Sunway Line elevated guideway
  • A BYD battery-run electric bus on dedicated elevated guideway.
    A BYD battery-run electric bus on dedicated elevated guideway.
  • Rapid Bus's battery-run electric bus for BRT Sunway Line at Sunway Depot
    Rapid Bus's battery-run electric bus for BRT Sunway Line at Sunway Depot
  • Rapid Bus's battery-run electric bus at BRT Depot
    Rapid Bus's battery-run electric bus at BRT Depot
  • Rapid Bus's battery-run electric bus interior for BRT Sunway Line
    Rapid Bus's battery-run electric bus interior for BRT Sunway Line
  • BRT Sunway ebus approaching SunU-Monash halt.
    BRT Sunway ebus approaching SunU-Monash halt.
  • The BRT Sunway ebus interior on operation.
    The BRT Sunway ebus interior on operation.
  • The BRT SunMed halt is identical to all 6 halts.
    The BRT SunMed halt is identical to all 6 halts.
  • The BRT Sunway-Setia Jaya halt is identical to all 6 halts.
    The BRT Sunway-Setia Jaya halt is identical to all 6 halts.
  • The BRT USJ7 halt and Kelana Jaya Line station.
    The BRT USJ7 halt and Kelana Jaya Line station.
  • The BRT USJ7 platform/halt.
    The BRT USJ7 platform/halt.
  • The BRT USJ7 halt signage interchange to upcoming Kelana Jaya Line.
    The BRT USJ7 halt signage interchange to upcoming Kelana Jaya Line.
  • BRT South Quay-USJ1 halt from the ground level.
    BRT South Quay-USJ1 halt from the ground level.

See also

References

  1. ^ BRT Standard score by Institute of Transportation & Development Policy
  2. ^ "BYD to supply 15 battery-run electric buses to RapidKL". New Straits Times. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
  3. ^ "Southeast Asia's Largest Zero-Emissions Electric Bus Order Awarded to BYD". MarketWatch. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d "Construction almost halfway complete - Community | The Star Online". Thestar.com.my. 28 June 2014. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  5. ^ "Najib launches BRT-Sunway line". The Malaysian Insider. Archived from the original on 13 June 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "Prasarana: More BRT could be built at various locations | New Straits Times | Malaysia General Business Sports and Lifestyle News". Nst.com.my. 9 June 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  7. ^ "Electric Buses for Bus Rapid Transit Sunway Line in 2015". SJ ECHO. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  8. ^ "Sunway unit gets RM453mil job for bus rapid transit - Sunway Line". The Star Online. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  9. ^ "LRT, BRT projects info centre now in Sunway Pyramid". New Straits Times. Retrieved 18 February 2013.[permanent dead link‍]
  10. ^ "Sunway Constructs Nation's First Bus Rapid Transit". Sunway Group. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ "SUnway expects bigger consumer growth". The Edge Malaysian Insider. Retrieved 25 July 2013.[permanent dead link‍]
  12. ^ a b "New Sunway bus line to start in June | theSundaily". Thesundaily.my. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  13. ^ a b c priya menon. "Sunway elevated bus rapid transit to start in June - Community | The Star Online". Thestar.com.my. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  14. ^ a b c Khoo, Daniel. "BRT-Sunway Line nears completion - Business News | The Star Online". Thestar.com.my. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  15. ^ a b "More BRT could be built at various locations, says Prasarana". Astro Awani. 9 June 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  16. ^ a b "Malaysia's First Electric Bus Service To Commence Operations In June". MyRapid. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  17. ^ "Sunway elevated Bus Rapid Transit Line launched today to cut congestion". The Malaysian Insider. Archived from the original on 26 September 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ "Najib launches BRT electric bus service in Sunway". The Star Online. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  19. ^ "Why the LRT isn't worth the switch - Letters | The Star Online". www.thestar.com.my. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  20. ^ "New BRT fares "shocking", likely to discourage users". Paul Tan's Automotive News. 7 August 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  21. ^ "Steep fares keep passengers away - Community | The Star Online". www.thestar.com.my. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  22. ^ "LRT fares are relatively low, ticket options available — Lim Jin Aun". 26 August 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2016.

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