KUALA LUMPUR: Poor first- and last-mile connectivity continue to undermine public transport accessibility, despite significant investments in Malaysia’s railway infrastructure, say transport experts.
For commuters, getting off a train should be the easy part, but for some reaching their final destination can sometimes prove challenging due to the need to navigate dangerous roads, incomplete walkways and inconvenient detours.
Experts say the institutional fragmented responsibilities between government agencies, rail operators and developers had resulted in pedestrian infrastructure being overlooked during project planning.
Universiti Putra Malaysia Road Safety Research Centre head Assoc Prof Dr Law Teik Hua said the vicinity of the Semantan MRT station, part of the Kajang Line, illustrated the problem.
He said its pedestrian connection towards Human Resource Development Corporation (HRD Corp) building ended prematurely, forcing commuters onto roads with fast-moving traffic.
“Even if an administrative centre is only a five-minute walk from a train station, commuters should not have to walk along roads with fast-moving traffic to get there,” he said.
Law said such shortcomings disproportionately affected senior citizens, persons with disabilities and commuters carrying luggage.
He also cited Stadium Shah Alam LRT station, where incomplete pedestrian walkways following the LRT3 opening forced passengers to cross busy roads.
He said the problem was particularly evident in the development of railway infrastructure, where station construction and surrounding pedestrian connections often involved different parties.
“The issue is that pedestrian connections extending beyond the physical boundaries of individual railway projects often involve diverse institutional stakeholders.
“This fragmentation in institutional responsibility over the various segments of pedestrian connectivity infrastructure could pose coordination challenges during the planning process.”
To this, Law proposed establishing a First- and Last-Mile Connectivity Task Force under the Transport Ministry to better coordinate resolving last-mile connectivity issues between relevant government agencies, rail operators, local authorities and private developers.
“Each train station could undergo a detailed audit of their first- and last-mile connectivity infrastructure, covering the feasible walking distances around each station location.”
He also called for pedestrian connectivity to become part of the commissioning requirements for new railway lines, ensuring essential walking connections were ready when services began.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Land Public Transport Fans chairman Zac Cheong said the disconnect also stemmed from railway construction and connecting walkway infrastructure being planned and budgeted separately.
He said this was due to local authorities often not being sufficiently involved during the early stages of railway projects, resulting in pedestrian connections being overlooked until stations were nearing completion.
Cheong also said the emphasis on providing more parking spaces perpetuated car-dependent commuting habits, undermining efforts to encourage public transport use.
To address this, he called on the Federal Government to recognise first- and last-mile connectivity as core railway infrastructure rather than supplementary facilities.
“This means allowing feeder buses to have dedicated right-of-way and frequency guarantees near stations,” he said.
At the local level, he proposed that councils establish clear performance indicators requiring safe pedestrian networks within 400m of every railway station.
He also urged local authorities to proactively inspect pedestrian infrastructure and introduce reporting mechanisms for walkway interruptions caused by construction.
“The last mile determines whether the entire rail network succeeds or fails as when people cannot walk safely to stations, they will revert to driving, and billions in rail investment will be wasted,” he added.
