FOR the last couple of months, the prototype vehicle for Kuching’s autonomous rapid transit (ART) system has been undergoing an engineering run at the Isthmus area of the city.
The sleek three-coach vehicle, which looks like a tram on wheels, sparked plenty of buzz when it was spotted on the road during the test run.
In fact, anticipation had been building since August when it was announced that the vehicle had arrived at Senari Port from China.
After all, ART is Kuching’s long-awaited and much-needed public transport system, which was initially proposed as a light rail transit (LRT) in 2017.
Two years later, the Sarawak government decided to look into the feasibility of ART due to its lower cost, as it would not need to run on rail tracks.
The ambitious ART project includes using hydrogen-powered vehicles serving three initial lines in Kuching to ease traffic congestion, while supporting Sarawak’s aspiration to develop a hydrogen economy.
The arrival of the prototype vehicle was a step closer towards making it a reality.
However, it also raised questions of how and where the vehicles would run once the system was in place.
There were concerns that if ART took up existing road space, it would not help to reduce congestion as other vehicles would have to make way for it.
In response to these concerns, Sarawak Metro, which is implementing the ART project, clarified that the system would run on dedicated road-level or elevated lanes and would not share the road with other vehicles.
It said ART would be the backbone of Kuching Urban Transportation System (KUTS), with the first phase involving the development of three lines covering a total distance of 70km.
These are the 27.6km Blue Line from Rembus in Kota Samarahan to Hikmah Exchange in Kuching’s city centre, the 12.3km Red Line from Kuching Sentral to Pending, and the 30km Green Line from Pending to Damai.
Sarawak Metro said the engineering run aimed to refine the specifications of the ART vehicle and to assess its performance and functionality.
This will be followed by a proof-of-concept (POC) exercise commencing later this month to evaluate the feasibility of the prototype for the final design of the ART unit.
The POC exercise will be conducted on a dedicated 3km double lane road built between two roundabouts along Kuching-Samarahan Expressway.
This stretch will form a section of the permanent dedicated double lane built for the Blue Line.
Despite the anticipation of seeing the ART vehicle in action during its ongoing test run, there is still some way to go before the system is ready, as service is only expected to begin in stages from the fourth quarter of 2025.
I’m sure most city folk would want the system to succeed as traffic congestion is getting worse.
Kuching urgently needs efficient public transport to ease congestion and improve mobility.
The routes have to be well thought out, taking people where they need to go with a minimum of fuss.
Frequency, fares and readily available schedules are other aspects that need to be implemented well, along with ensuring the comfort and safety of passengers.
How passengers will get to the stations from their homes and destinations is another important factor to be considered.
It will defeat the purpose if people do not use ART because it is difficult or inconvenient to get to the stations.
In this respect, Sarawak Metro has disclosed that the ART system will be supported by a feeder bus network to provide first- and last-mile connectivity for commuters.
The bus network has to be properly planned and integrated with ART to make public transport as convenient and seamless as possible, so that city folk will have an incentive to leave their cars at home and take the bus or ART instead.
Let’s ensure that ART will serve the people’s need for an efficient public transport system that will reduce traffic congestion in the city.
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