Watch us bicycling on this amazing piece of bicycle infrastructure, the Federal Highway (video starts at 7:18), which connects central Kuala Lumpur with Klang, about 40 km away.

This long continuous straight and fairly flat bicycle lane is separate from car traffic, which is wonderful. However, while originally designed for bicycles, it has become a defacto motorbike lane. Bicycling, however, is possible, when keeping left, you have to accept motorbikes zooming past at high speeds on this fairly narrow 2-lane path. Not ideal. Nevertheless, I was genuinely impressed by this prominent piece of bicycle infrastructure, which I believe - with some safety improvements - can become a catalyst for bicycle commuting in the Klang Valley. This bicycle lane along the Federal Highway has the potential to make bicycle commuting a realistic and safe option for thousands of Malaysians. The infrastructure is there, all that is missing is making it safer and ensuring safer entrances and exits to/from to the neighbourhoods along the Federal Highway. Eugene and I discuss this and much more in the interview audio track that starts at 8:00. Highlights from the video include:

0:00 Bicycle map
4:34 Busy road (not safe for cyclists) connecting to Federal Highway
5:30 Riding on the PJ bicycle path
7:11 Entering the Federal Highway bicycle lane
11:00 Eugene telling about how he got started becoming a bicycle commuter in Kuala Lumpur (PJ to Shah Alam)
16:00 Discussing the safety of bicycling along the Federal Highway
21:00 The history of the Federal Highway
23:40 The dark tunnel. No lights! Unnecessarily dangerous. Why?! Eugene explain in audio at 36:30
28:00 Discussing the stretches along the Federal Highway where the bicycle lane is discontinued more or less permanently
29:50 Crossing the Damansara River
30:30 Discussing the blocked Federal Highway bicycle lane near Midvalley / Bangsar South, and how that forced cyclists to ride on the highway itself. Not safe!
37:00 Is it legal to bicycle on the Federal Highway itself? Is it even safe???
40:20 People walking on the bicycle path
40:50 MAIN DISCUSSION: How can we make the Federal Highway safer for both bicyclists and motorbikes (with a budget for upgrading).
50:20 Turning off the Federal Highway bicycle lane to get to Eugene's workplace in Shah Alam
51:30 Discussing the need to improve the entrance and exit infrastructure for the Federal Highway bicycle lane
57:45 Commute ends, but our good discussion continues, so decided to add in video footage from my return trip bicycling on the other side of the Federal Highway, which is quite different (more forested). This time with 100% of the orginal bicycling video audio.
1:00:00 Eugene making the point that the motorcyclists and bicyclists are allies, the "enemy" is the cars. This, incidentally, aligns perfectly with the City of Kuala Lumpur's plan to reduce car trips to just 30% of trips made by 2040.
1:03:50 Suggesting to work with the NGO Bike Commute Malaysia (https://bikecommute.my) to propose and illustrate how the bicycle infrastructure along the Federal Highway can be improved
1:04:40 Climbing barrier along Federal Highway to enter bicycle lane to start the bicycling back towards Kuala Lumpur.
1:08:30 The bicycle lane is blocked. I try to proceed anyway... (to bicycle on the Federal Highway is not an acceptable option to me!)
1:12:30 Eugene does not accept that the climate is a hindrance to be a bicycle commuter. Improving safety is the key issue!

This video was recorded at 7 am on Thursday 6 April 2023 (NB. The video incorrectly states 4 April) with a chest-mounted GoPro 8 from my Brompton bicycle. The interview with Eugene was recorded online using Zoom.
Enjoy the video!
GREGERS

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Sources given by Eugene:

1) One of the newspaper article that inspired Eugene to become a bicycle commuter:
https://www.therakyatpost.com/living/...

2) Newspaper article about bicycling for Kuala Lumpur to Klang:
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/commu...

3) Information from the Federal Highway Wikipedia page:
"The motorcycle lanes were originally intended for bicycle riders, with the design speed limit as low as 60 km/h."
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal...)

4) Newspaper article with builder of the Federal Highway (NST):
"To keep cyclists off the carriageway, we built cycle tracks but I see they are now used by motorcyclists" Mr. G. RAMASAMY
https://web.archive.org/web/200904101...

#bicycle #commuting #bicyclecommute #federalhighway #bromptonsociety
Malay: Lebuhraya Persekutuan, Chinese: 联邦大道, abbreviation: FH2