KUCHING: The Sarawak government will order 38 more units of the hydrogen-powered autonomous rapid transit (ART) coaches once the test runs of the prototype vehicle is completed, says Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.
He said the coaches would serve the three lines of phase one of the Kuching Urban Transport System (KUTS), scheduled to start operations in stages at the end of 2025.
"The three lines will connect Samarahan to Kuching.
"This investment by the state government in public transport transformation will benefit the rakyat," he told reporters after launching the engineering run and stage two of the proof-of-concept (POC) exercise for the prototype ART vehicle here on Wednesday (Sept 6).
Abang Johari said the benefits included providing flexible and affordable mobility for the public, besides being tourist-friendly.
"For example, tourists can go from Kuching to Damai on the ART," he said.
In addition, the ART was part of efforts to improve sustainability and reduce carbon emissions as it was powered by hydrogen.
"We are not just talking about mitigating climate change, the Sarawak government walks the talk," he said.
Abang Johari also said the fares for the ART would be decided later, but pledged that they would not be a burden to the public.
"There will be a special fare to encourage people to use public transport," he said, adding that the fare payment would use Sarawak's e-wallet application SPay Global.
Abang Johari also went on a test ride of the prototype ART vehicle, which consists of three coaches, along the engineering run route at the Kuching Isthmus.
"It was very comfortable and ran well," he said of the ride.
Sarawak Metro, which is implementing the KUTS project, said the engineering run would be held for two months until October to refine the specifications of the ART and identify any potential issues before the POC exercise starts.
It will also assess the performance and functionality of the prototype vehicle.
The POC exercise will be carried out in Samarahan in November to gather data for evaluating the feasibility of the prototype for the final design of the ART vehicle.
Sarawak Metro also said the ART would run on dedicated road-level or elevated lanes and would not share the road with other vehicles.
The dedicated lanes will be trackless as the ART vehicles run on rubber tyres.
The ART system will be supported by a feeder bus network, which will also use hydrogen-powered vehicles, to offer first- and last-mile connectivity for commuters.
