SPAD developing apps to promote public transport usage

SPAD is developing different applications for different needs and functions.

PETALING JAYA: The Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) is leveraging on technology to achieve a 40% public transport commuting trips by 2030 compared to only 20% today, according to its head of NKRA projects division Ahmad Rahdi Maarof.

In a Smart Cities Conference organised by the Malaysian-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ahmad Rahdi said SPAD is developing different applications for different needs and functions.

It is expected to launch an application known as Journey Planner App by the end of this year. This app provides point-to-point public transport options. Last year, it launched MeterOn, a mobile APP which is dedicated for taxi and express bus passengers to lodge complaints directly to SPAD.

SPAD will also be implementing a one-card payment system for all public transport in 2019.

“Currently, only 20% of our daily commute trips were made on public transport. Although this is higher than the 11% some years ago, we would like to double this. Malaysia has a car ownership of 93%, which is ranked the third highest in the world.

“By 2030, there will be 75% of urbanisation rate in Malaysia. Given the growing population and the increasing needs of commute, reducing the dependence on private vehicles and promoting smart mobilities are the future direction for a sustainable living,” said Ahmad.

One of the SPAD’s initiatives is the implementation of Performance Monitoring Hub System (PMHS). All SPAD buses will be connected to this centralised system in order to monitor the service availability, trip compliance, and schedule adherence.

“Journey Planner App provide trip options based on PMHS’ data. Users can search for the most effective and cheapest way to reach one location by public transport. For buses, the results shown will include the real distance and estimated time of arrival of a moving bus,” added Ahmad.

MeterOn App is offers a channel for taxi and express bus passengers to report directly to SPAD about speeding and bad driving behaviour.

By simply entering the vehicle registration number, passengers can authenticate a driver, check current offences, and view other passengers’ feedback and experiences, he said.

Users can also track their journey, estimate the fare, and send SOS alerts in case of an emergency. A report can be lodged by the passenger if the taxi driver commits an offence.

Also on SPAD’s horizon is the Integrated Common Payment System (ICPS), a frictionless and seamless public transport payment system that cuts out transfer fee and promotes multi-modal public transport use.

“ICPS has a similar concept as Hong Kong’s Octopus Card. Passengers can make payment to all kinds of public transport with one card.

“By using ICPS, fares will be calculated as one-trip, based on the starting and end point of the journey, regardless the changes between different public transport models, such as from KTM to LRT,” said Ahmad.