Tuesday, August 24th, 2010 09:17:00
 
LAST week, I had to go to KL Sentral to attend to some personal matters.

I decided to park my car at the Kelana Jaya Light Rail Transit (LRT) and take the train to my destination which seemed to be the fastest and most convenient way to travel during the after-work peak period.

I saw a barrier displaying the Touch n’ Go 'Park and Ride' tag used together with the normal cash payment mode. As I was about to enter, however, I saw no ticket dispenser which meant the facility is limited to the prepaid e-payment card users.

I later learned from the Internet that only the cards could be used for parking at the station under its 'Park and Ride' system which was introduced at the Taman Paramount LRT station last October. However, I could use the LRT service by purchasing a ticket at the counter or dispensing machine with cash.

If I had a choice for the LRT services, why not the parking lot?

The right of choice is one of the fundamentals of consumerism, but in this case, I did not have a choice but to get a Touch n’ Go card or else I would have been stuck in front of the car park's barrier.

The government is promoting public transport, but such narrow interests will prevent consumers from fully benefitting from the facility.

Yu Kin Len
Consumer Research and Resource Centre
Petaling Jaya, Selangor