JAPANESE tend to say “I have responsibilities”.

These include obligations to parents, family, teachers, seniors, supervisors, company, neighbourhood, country and society at large. These are the types of obligations that can never be repaid for life.

The Japanese have huge respect for people who honour these responsibilities, do their duties no matter the personal consequences.

In Japan, the emphasis is on others first with self being last, focusing on fulfilling their responsibilities. In other cultures, it works differently

That is the main reason why Japan has a public transport system with a commitment to punctuality that puts others to shame.

The Shinkansen is just the icing. Trains and buses in Japan run with clockwork precision. Despite being a territory prone to earthquakes, the transport in Japan has an average delay of no more than 30 seconds.

In news that sounds like satire to frustrated commuters everywhere, the management of Japan’s Tsukuba Express line between Tokyo and Tsukuba issued an apology for a train that departed the station 20 seconds in November 2017.

One rider’s 20-second delay is another’s rush-hour nightmare.

Yes, you read that right. The train wasn’t late, and it deviated from its schedule by a less than half a minute. The fault was caused by crew who “did not sufficiently check the departure time and performed the departure operation.” Although no passengers complained, an apology for the offence was deemed necessary.

Punctuality is important for the Japanese as it affects the quality of life for everyone.

Japan is a country where being late by seconds can spark a scandal. It displays a general consideration for others that is a fundamental aspect of Japanese society.

For government officials who go on field trips to Japan to learn about the efficiency and efficacy of their public transport system, go out to the rural areas and take those public buses without guided company.

Regardless of whether it is a semi-urban or rural area, all public buses plying these routes arrive and leave according to schedule.

The buses stop at every station regardless of whether there are passengers waiting.

Passengers queue in orderly fashion and enter from the front and exit at the rear door. They do the same with buses.

Bus drivers only move on the left lane and do not overtake and pick up or drop of passengers on the outer lane even when there is long queue of buses in front.

The drivers follow diligently and strictly to these. They will arrive exactly on the dot at their subsequent stations in accordance to their published schedules.

Everything has been meticulously designed to ensure punctuality and convenience to the people. Their operators take pride in running services on time. And they record key performance indicators like the average delay to services by line.

This consideration is partially a product of having a more group-focused culture, an idea that is imparted to children from a young age. Children are responsible for the cleaning of their schools, the serving and clean-up of food, and take active roles in all school events. These practices teach them to take responsibility for their belongings and surroundings. They have mandatory ethics classes where they learn how to become a “good citizen”.

Much has been said on the increasing traffic jams in the Klang Valley with the transport minister pinning the blame squarely on the country having too many registered vehicles, adding that it wasn’t his fault and implying that he or his ministry couldn’t do much.

Despite an extensive public transport system specifically in the Klang Valley, why are the roads still jammed?

Industry experts will tell you that only way to reduce congestion is to get more Malaysians to switch to public transport.

Why are people put off from using public transport? Uncertainty over schedules. This would have been made irrelevant by a reliable and punctual bus service.

Like the fifth prime minister Abdullah Badawi famously quipped: “We have first-class facilities or infrastructure but a third-class mentality”.

The country can build the most modern and connected public transport system, but it is the people who will make the system work.

Dedicated bus lanes in Kuala Lumpur were first introduced in 1997 in response to the need to improve the bus transit services and reduce traffic congestion, especially in the city centre.

Then in 2009, the government set up the Urban Public Transport Laboratory to look into encouraging increased usage of public transport. The proposal was to introduce dedicated bus lanes, which are separated from normal roads by barriers in 2011 in Kuala Lumpur.

Now this year, the government again announced the setup of task force to oversee and study traffic flow in Kuala Lumpur, a move aimed at reducing the worsening congestion in the capital. This time, the task force announced six proposals as long-term measures to tackle congestion in the capital – expanding public transport networks, re-enforcement of bus lanes, integrating the different highway concessionaires to ensure better traffic dispersal, build more pedestrian-friendly infrastructure such as underpasses and tunnels.

Not taking into account population density while planning for frequency can result in lower levels of efficiency in the system.

Some cities in the United States are now providing an on-demand transport option that provides accessible micro-transit services, a publicly or privately owned and operated shared transport system. The vehicles used may range from shuttle vans to multi-passenger vehicles and buses.

So instead of proposing to spend on building new infrastructure, the government should inculcate the same habits as the Japanese in Malaysians.

It is not the hardware. It is the software that will make things work, if properly cultivated from young. If not, another government in a few years time will announce the formation of a new task force that will propose the re-introduction of a bus lane again – as the solution to encouraging Malaysians to use public transport.

A developed country is not where the poor have cars. It is where the rich use public transport. – August 2, 2022.

* FLK reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.