I write in response to recent calls for the Putrajaya monorail project to be brought back to life. I last commented on it in April 2008 when the issue was raised by the Putrajaya Corporation.

I did not see the need then for a mass-transit system on the scale of an LRT or monorail for a town that is relatively low in density in many areas and has a very small population.

Frankly, I do not see the demand for it now, or for a very long time in the future.

The monorail is not really a public transport project, but rather a "feel good" and "satisfying" undertaking to impress people about Malaysia's federal administrative capital.

Considering that the capacity of the existing KL Monorail is approximately 6,000 passengers per hour per direction, and the population of Putrajaya is 55,000 plus the government workers, I do not see the need to spend so much money (RM400 million to start) on the monorail.

A bus-rapid transit system along the surface of the main boulevards of Putrajaya could easily carry 6,000 passengers per hour per direction, (or more than the entire population of Putrajaya plus workers and visitors in a single day) at a fraction of the cost of the proposed monorail.

Even if the rapid transit service were combined with supplementary feeder bus service and park and ride service and all of that service were made free, it would still be cheaper than building and operating the monorail.

The problem is, as usual, that people who make decisions often see public transport as a way to impress people instead of an economically efficient system to move people around - usually because they do not make use of the service themselves.

I suggest that the Putrajaya corporation take some of their 104 new buses and implement a bus-rapid transit system (or even a regular bus system) that follows the route of the proposed monorail.

Some of the additional buses can also be used to introduce more bus links serving the Multimedia Super Corridor, and connections to surrounding cities like KL, Kajang, Puchong, Petaling Jaya, Sepang, Dengkil and Cyberjaya, among others.

It goes without saying that these services should have fully accessible buses. The Putrajaya Corporation should also build proper bus shelters along Persiaran Perdana.

They might might distract from Putrajaya's built-in parade route (probably the reason why no shelters were built before) but shelters are necessary to get people to use public transport.

It is disappointing that people prefer to bank on an upcoming monorail (or LRT or KTM or whatever) project and do nothing to improve public transport on a smaller scale - while the public wait and endure the effects.

That is a symptom of planning for the sake of planning, not planning for the sake of practicality and real service to the people.