Integrating the fare system for Malaysia’s transport-
The Integrated Common Payment System (ICPS) solution is a project undertaken by Suruhanjaya Pengangkutan Awam Darat (SPAD) to integrate the fare system for public transport in Malaysia. The project is listed under the National Key Results Areas (NKRAs) for urban public transport and integrates all urban rail and bus transit fare systems.
It developed the Land Public Transport Master Plan, which aims to develop a long-term programme to address the deterioration in public transport and execute effective deliverables in order to create an efficient public transport service. The plan was approved by the Malaysian Government in 2013.
Recently, SPAD announced plans to launch an integrated ticketing system for all modes of public transport using the Touch ‘n Go Sdn Bhd digital platform. SPAD plans to implement ICPS to unify the ticketing system for light rail transit (LRT), mass rapid transit (MRT) KL Monorail, Rapid KL buses, and KTM Komuter into a single system. Malaysia’s LRT and MRT networks have already adopted the system and plans have been announced to expand it to include the bus network.
The ICPS solution is currently under development and is projected to be used by an estimated 1 million passengers daily in its first year of operation. The project is planned to be completed by 2020.
The ICPS will include deployment of account-based payment (EMV) in both plastic and mobile formats.
Credit and debit cards in Malaysia
In 2016, a total of 43.67 million debit card and 9.18 million credit card users were recorded. The growth rate of debit cards during 2012-16 was estimated to be 32 per cent and of credit cards it was 4 per cent. This growth rate is expected to ease the implementation of the electronic fare system in Malaysia.
Advantages ahead
Once implemented, the ICPS solution will provide commuters with a single electronic system to travel on the public transport network and park at nearly 4,000 spots at the stations. Commuters will also save a substantial amount of money on public transport as no transfer premiums will be charged for integrated journeys and special discounts will be given to commuters.
Key challenges and solutions
SPAD is facing several issues and challenges in implementing the integrated ticketing system. This includes lack of shared interest among all stakeholders, lack of proper project governance, and difficulty in selecting the right vendor for technical and advisory services and delivery according to the desired quality, cost and time. Transport operators have also come up with various concerns and issues. This includes the increasing cost due to deployment of manual labour in spite of investing heavily in ticketing infrastructure. They also lack proper technology and management information for better planning of the deployment.
However, there are steps that can be taken to move to an integrated fare system. Customers can be encouraged to use cashless ticketing by introducing differential pricing system for cash and cashless transactions. Multiple payment options can be given to passengers such as common prepaid card, open-loop account based, EMV account based payment, and concession, seasonal and tourist passes. For operators, cost can be cut down by integrating the ticketing system with various other services, such as shopping, billing, parking, etc.
Other key developments
To build reliability and eventually boost the modal share of public transport, SPAD has designed a journey planner to enable commuters to find public transport services easily. Commuters will be provided with an integrated platform that includes multimode and multi-operator service information through a search engine. The application will also display the best options for a passenger’s trip, based on real-time information. The application will be monitored by SPAD with the cooperation of major operators who are currently running the routes in the public transport network in Malaysia.
Further, the government has also announced that 3,955 new parking spots will be developed by 2019 to complement rail lines, and two new integrated terminals, connecting with bus and rail transport (Terminal Bersepadu Gombak and Terminal Bersepadu Sungai Buloh), are planned to be operationalised by 2020.
Conclusion
With the introduction of the new integrated ticketing system, the patronage of public transport is expected to increase. In the past, various cities around the world have faced political, technological and management issues that have delayed the deployment of integrated ticketing system for years. Thus, SPAD needs to overcome such issues and take into consideration the problems faced by and needs of passengers, government and transport operators to successfully implement the integrated ticketing system across the country.
