Putatan
Introduction to Corridor Study
Putatanis a town and asuburbofKota Kinabaluin the state
ofSabah,East Malaysia. It is located 5km away from the airport and
20 minutes away from the city centre.The total land area covered is
estimated at209.2km (80.79mi). The weather of Putatan is hot and
humid throughout the year at 32C and 75% humidity.
The town was located within thedistrictofPenampangon the coast
of theWest Coast Divisionbut from 1 March 2007, Putatan became
adistricton its own. As of 2010, it has an estimated population of
54,733.
The bustling town of Putatan which was upgraded to a full
district over a year ago, will continue to see rapid development in
the coming years, Putatan is an important district because of its
location just next to the state capital. The development here
should be in tandem with that in the City.
A lot of development has been brought to Putatan. In line with
this new status, the federal government has allocate RM140 million
to improve the road network in the district.
Existing Situation & Current Study
Putatan is developing at a fast rate. A lot of new shop lots,
shopping mall, houses, and apartment has been built to counter the
needs of local. However, it is said to be over developing as the
property there is unaffordable and people often tends to buy their
houses at Papar, a town which located not far from Putatan.
Putatan also infamous for having not enough parking slot even
before it started to develop. Now the situation become worst after
the opening of few shopping mall and hypermarket in Putatan such as
Giant, Servay and One Place Mall. The lack of parking place often
trigger the traffic congestion problem due to some inconsiderate
person.
There are few choices of public transport system available in
Putatan such as train, minivan and bus. However, there is still
much to improve before it actually benefit the public.
One of the major problem voiced out by the public transport
service provider is there is no proper bus stop terminal in
Putatan. They have no choice to set up a temporary terminal just
next to the railway terminal. Such action will lead to traffic
congestion problem and hence, it is prohibited by the authority.
Most of them get summoned because of parking their minivan along
the roadside. Other than that, the minivan only take off when it is
full. There is no proper schedule for them to follow. This often
cause inconvenient to the public.
The railway transport system is another alternative solution
offered as for now. The train have their own schedule to follow.
However, the flexibility for the train to pull over is very low as
it need a proper train station to make a stop. Hence, it is less
convenient compare to other public transport system.
The train system at Putatan is conventional type unlike the one
they having in west Malaysia. There are several factors that
affecting the upgrade of conventional train to a modern train
system which are:
- Geography Problem
- Financial Problem
- Politic Problem
The current railway system require the train to stop at specific
junction to allow the traffic to crossover. This significantly
increase the time of travel and gradually reduce the efficiency of
railway system.
Temporary Bus Terminal
Minivan Illegal Parking
Lane full with Minivan waiting along roadside
Temporary Bus Terminal
Both lane full with minivan in front One Place Mall
Bus stop half filled with minivan driver
Interviewing Session with the Person in Charge