It was a dull Wednesday afternoon. I was on my way to the Putrajaya Government Complex for some official matters. When I go there, I usually get an illegal spot at the roadside to park the car.But that particular day, as I was driving, there were too many warning signs. And true enough the roadside was empty – with a patrol car parked at the end.
So… I decided to use the “Park & Ride” system instead. I wanted to see whether this system really works. Why would someone want to park a mile away, wait for the bus, finish the business, wait for the bus again and get back to the car park?
I wondered, so I experimented.
As I swerved into the car park, I saw hardly 20 cars parked there. I was about to take a U-turn but far ahead, gleaming under the sun was - Nadi Putra – the Heartbeat of Putrajaya.
There were as many Nadi Putra buses there as there were cars. So I went to the small bus stop. I waited about 30 seconds, when one of the drivers stared at me as if I spoiled his paper-reading session.
“Mau pi mana?” he asked rather “politely”.
“Parcel D,” I answered.
“Tunggu 5 minit. U pi skarang pun tada orang sana – rehat!”
That was the warm welcome I got at the Park & Ride – the revolutionary town-planning concept of the Federal Territory.
Then he called me in and drove me across to Parcel D. The conversation in the bus went like this…
“Tak ramai orang guna bas ini ke?” I asked the obvious.
“Adalah… kalau saman banyak, diaorang mari sini…” he said.
“Bas pun banyak… tapi semua kosong,” I probed further.“Kalau you tanya saya… lebih baik dia buat banyak carpark kat tempat bangunan kerajaan tu… rakyat nak jumpa kerajaan kena parking lagi, ambil bas lagi… bodoh punya planning,” he poured out his emotions.
I didn’t know what to respond. He just gave me a verdict on the entire planning of the great Putrajaya. I had to agree at that point of time.
He dropped me off at Parcel D and as I was alighting, he said, “50 sen!”
“Ah?”
“50 sen boss! Masuk dalam ini,” he said pointing at the ticket machine.
First, they torture us, then they ask us to pay for the torture… this was definitely not worth it.
As I finished my business at Parcel D, I walked out to the bus stop. I looked at the
systematic planning of Park & Ride. The routes were impressive. Good plan indeed.Then I heard the voice of the Bus Man echoing in my mind, “bodoh punya planning, bodoh punya planning.”
It was raining quite heavily as I waited for the bus. The bus arrived and guess what – it is the same Bus Man! For a moment I thought I was in a Truman Show or something. Was I being pranked by the Park & Ride fraternity?
Anyway, it was a quiet journey back to the bus stop, except for some serious glances by the Bus Man. As he went past the carpark gate, he asked me in the same “polite” tone, “Mana kereta?”
At that moment, suddenly I felt embarassed. This guy who was the personification of rudeness a while ago, actually asked me where I parked. And he brought me close to my car, because it was raining!
As I thanked him, I made a mental note to myself that there was nothing wrong with the system.
The system is all working well as it does in UK and many other nations (Check out http://www.parkandride.net/).
But if we, the users can actually understand that we are not doing this to avoid the summonses - then we can make the change.
We can reduce cars on the road, reduce congestion, reduce carbon emission – and build a better world!
Hey, why don’t they introduce Park & Ride in KL as well?
GO GREEN! WALK FOR VALUES
Come and walk with us this 10th May 2009, 8am at the SS3 MBPJ Basketball Court
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRywCxms9KE&feature=related
Register online at wfv.saicouncil.org.my
