Remember this? Johor Bahru is supposed to get an autonomous rapid transit (ART) system to carry people to and away from Bukit Chagar, which will be the Malaysian terminus of the operational-by-2027 Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link. Transport minister Anthony Loke said that ART development is ongoing and has not been delayed, Bernama reports.
He said the project is currently at the request-for-proposal (RFP) evaluation stage and is being refined by the Public-Private Partnership Unit (UKAS) after several proposals did not meet the required standards. “Of course, the ministry will work with UKAS to expedite the awarding process for the project,” he added.
“I am deeply concerned about the traffic congestion that is expected to arise once the RTS Link begins operation. To date, no comprehensive solution has been presented to accommodate the expected increase in traffic, including the implementation of an elevated autonomous rail transit (ART) system or other alternative transport options around the Bukit Chagar area.
“The federal government has stated that there are insufficient funds to cover maintenance costs should a fully elevated system be implemented. Yet, Penang has been able to secure the LRT project, which is significantly more expensive than the ART system,” Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, the Regent of Johor said recently.
Johor public works, transport, infrastructure and communications committee chairman Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh on Thursday urged the federal government to expedite ART, ideally by early next year, saying that the project is crucial to support public transport and streamline traffic flow before the RTS Link comes online.
Also called trackless trams, ART is essentially a bus that drives itself by reading road markings through light detection and ranging (LIDAR) – the term ‘elevated’ points towards it getting a dedicated roadway, without having to jostle with other traffic. Kuching is already building its ART and trials have been done in Putrajaya in the past.
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