Kuala Lumpur rolls out bike lanes but cyclists yet to catch up

KUALA LUMPUR - Despite their availability, bicycle lanes are underused in many parts of Kuala Lumpur’s city centre.

These include downtown areas such as Jalan Raja Laut, Jalan Tun HS Lee, Jalan Gereja and Jalan Sultan Ismail.

In 2019, the Kuala Lumpur City Hall introduced the Kuala Lumpur Pedestrian and Cycling Masterplan (KLPCM) for developing networks of efficient and user-friendly walking and cycling paths.

Under the masterplan, the city planned to expand the bicycle lanes in the city from 32.9km in 2019 to 96.3km in 2028.

This includes an additional 11km of bicycle lanes in the city centre and downtown areas, bringing the total length to 26km.

While it is commendable to have bicycle lanes in the city centre, Bike Commute Malaysia director Justin Lee told StarMetro that cycling was still not the first choice of transport for those living there.

He said the city should instead look at housing areas which had a cycling population and prioritise having bicycle lanes there.

“Bicycle lanes will be more beneficial and useful if they can connect these residential areas to destinations like transit hubs,” he pointed out.

There is already an existing community who cycles regularly in suburbs like Danau Kota, said Mr Lee.

“Another example is Chow Kit, as it contains both the monorail and MRT services and has a big pedestrian population. These people can be encouraged to cycle if the facilities are available there,” he said.

Meanwhile the city also has plans under KLPCM to connect suburban areas like Titiwangsa, Ampang, Sentul, Pandan and Bandar Permaisuri to the city centre with bicycle lanes.

Mr Lee, however, said the Kuala Lumpur city centre was still quite “disconnected” from these areas, making it too far for the people there to cycle to the city centre.

“One can also cycle to the train station, take the train to the city centre, then continue cycling there. However, it is quite difficult to bring bicycles onto the trains especially during peak hours.

“Another issue is those living in the city centre will still need to cross dangerous roads to reach the bicycle lanes from their homes,” he added.

Promoting bicycle lanes

Mr Lee said the city hall should conduct campaigns to encourage people to use the existing bicycle lanes, besides considering other strategies that could make cycling in the city safer and more convenient.

“This includes placing bicycles (for rent) beside bicycle lanes for the cyclists’ usage, as not all cyclists come to the city centre with a bicycle,” he said.

Misused lanes StarMetro found parked motor vehicles obstructing bicycle lanes and posing a safety hazards for cyclists.

Physical safety dividers

Mr Lee said although completely separating the bicycle lanes from the road would be ideal, he acknowledged space constraints in the city centre could hinder this.

However, he said some forms of separation was still needed to ensure cyclists, especially inexperienced ones, would feel safe using the bicycle lanes.

He said the space could be created by adopting the parking-protected lanes concept used in New York, US.

This is where parking space or other raised structures are placed to prevent motorised vehicles from entering the bicycle lane.

“However, this concept would work better in low-density areas with ground-level buildings and slow car speed, like in Brickfields, Chow Kit and Kampung Baru,” Mr Lee said.

“Areas with tall buildings or skyscrapers would require more thorough study.”

He also urged DBKL to regularly update the progress of KLPCM’s implementation.

“Active community engagement for feedback is also essential for DBKL to better understand the overall context of the issue,” he added.

Reducing city driving speed

Meanwhile, Global Designing Cities Initiative (GDCI) programme manager Jashwanth Tej Kasala cited high vehicle speed as one of the reasons why people were still reluctant to cycle in the city.

“The current cycling network in Kuala Lumpur is still unable to make cyclists feel safe and comfortable, as vehicles are often speeding on the streets,” he said.

“This cause them to only cycle during the weekends, where traffic volume and speed are lower.

“To encourage cycling, we need to first reduce the speed of other vehicles, then build dedicated infrastructure to protect the cyclists.”

Progress so far

In a media statement, the Kuala Lumpur City Hall said a total of 68km of bicycle lanes, or around 71 per cent of the targeted 96.3km by 2028, had been built in the city as of December last year.

“DBKL is committed to completing the remaining lanes within the stipulated period, so that the people can enjoy comprehensive cycling infrastructure,” the local authority said. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK