Steps by Steps : Public Transport

I read recently there was an agreement to build an LRT line in Johor, the southern most state in Malaysia which neighbours Singapore. This is in conjunction of the MRT/LRT link over the straits between Malaysia and Singapore, allowing people to commute using rail between countries, helping alleviate the dire traffic on the bridges connecting the two countries. So the LRT in Johor was an idea to complement the new rail link. It was however said that the plan was ‘downgraded’ to a bus and ART (kinda like a long bus), which got a huge backlash from the interested public.

I also read a snippet that Vietnam is planning to build a multi billion dollar high speed rail with over thousands of kilometres long. Some articles remarked that they didn’t manage to upgrade their national rail network (old Ha Long Railway), despite this high ambition of building a high speed rail.

The common theme of the above is that the eagerness of wanting to upgrade the public transport, is most of the time not proportional to the needs and benefits to the users. I think this is common to all countries, regardless of their economic situation. Shooting for the stars might not necessarily mean a failure, but steady steps are in my opinion the best way to improve a public transportation system, or in introducing a new one.

Of course that’s easy for me to say, especially when in a similar case when upgrading my phone or my gadgets, I usually buy the most expensive one I can afford, and not the one I exactly need. Well, that’s human to you. But I have managed to kerb my wants, if I may say so myself, and settle down with sometimes not the most expensive thing I can buy. Step by steps

Thank you for reading.