Park'N'Ride facility launche

Community

Published: Monday January 5, 2015 MYT 12:00:00 AM
Updated: Monday January 5, 2015 MYT 7:24:56 AM

BY VINCENT TAN

http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Community/2015/01/05/Park-N-Ride-facility-launched/

A drawback: Siah (front) and other disabled persons trying out the wheelchair ramp at the facility. The Park’N’Ride facility has 12 disabled parking spaces, but there is no direct easy-access ramps to the station.

THE first Park’N’Ride facility in Petaling Jaya, located next to the Asia Jaya Light Rail Transit (LRT) station, was launched on New Year’s Eve by outgoing mayor Datin Paduka Alinah Ahmad in one of her last acts in office.

Located on the vacant Tenaga Nasional Bhd reserve land under the electric pylons, the Asia Jaya facility is one of five such “Park’N’Ride” projects by the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) for LRT stations in the city.

Other Park’N’Ride facilities will be located in Taman Paramount, Taman Bahagia, Kelana Jaya and Taman Jaya LRT stations, providing a total of 2,467 parking bays and covering an area of more than 25.57ha.

The newly launched Asia Jaya facility, according to MBPJ, has 576 bays, including 12 reserved for disabled-driver vehicles and measures a total of 4.25ha.

According to information released by MBPJ’s Public Relations Department, the total cost of the whole Park’N’Ride project is RM3.068mil with the project’s funds sourced from development charges levied on landowners and developers when applying for council planning approval.

Urban Planning Department personnel said the next site at Taman Paramount was in progress.

The Park’N’Ride facilities themselves are simple as contractors will first level the soil before laying tar premix and tiles for the parking bays.

Taman Jaya’s facility also had input from the Landscape Department, with additions such as a gazebo, covered walkways leading into Section 14, as well as wheelchair ramps leading to the LRT station.

Some of the disabled delegates at the launch, including Damai Disabled Persons Association of Malaysia vice-president M. Manoharan and city councillor Siah Siew Chin, said that although spaces had been reserved for disabled persons, however the facility was not disabled-friendly enough.

“The spaces are there, but the wheelchair ramp lacks guide rails, and it is quite a long way down to the station with no shelter in case of rain,” said Siah and Manoharan.

They added that they would write to the council to highlight these drawbacks.

Urban Planning director Sharipah Marhaini Syed Ali acknowledged that some parts of the facility were incomplete, and the council, along with Siah and other interested parties, would conduct an audit on the facility’s accessibility for disabled persons soon.