Watch my new video project: To bicycle with ordinary Malaysian bicycle commuters to document the easy/difficult, safe/dangerous parts of their bicycle route to/from work. During the trip, I will interview them about their motivations for choosing to bicycle. Not a realistic choice for most Kuala Lumpur residents (98.5% of KL residents almost never bicycle to work or school, the top three reasons being concerns for personal safety/security, heavy traffic and lack of facilities). I also ask what their family think about them commuting by bicycle.

In this video, I follow my Malaysian colleague, Peng Peng (52 years), who bicycles 13 km to work from Desa Petaling to Bangsar (Kuala Lumpur), which takes her about 1 hour, only 15 minutes longer time than commuting by car in normal traffic.

Peng Peng, who always liked bicycling, started commuting by bicycle 2 weeks ago. I lauded her effort, but was quite concerned, when I learned that much her original 10 km commute was along the highway. So, we jointly had a look at the map and found a somewhat safer and longer route (13 km), albeit, it was still impossible to avoid having to bicycle on the highway part of the way. Still worried about the safety of this route, I decided to jump onto my Brompton and join Peng Peng on her morning bicycle commute to see for myself. Moreover, I gave her a bright yellow vest (used for construction) as well as some bright rear bicycle lights to increase her visibility on the road.

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During the bicycle commute, I asked Peng Peng the following questions:

Question 1: “Why did you decide to commute by bicycle?”
Combining transport with exercise saves time. I like the freedom and childhood memories that come from bicycling.

Question 2: “What does your family think about you commuting by bicycle?”
Worried about my safety

Question 3: “Will you show this video to your family?”
Yes. I think my kids will find the video exciting, but my husband will be worried.

Question 4: "After starting to commute by bicycle, has your health improved?“
Yes. The pain in my left leg has gone. I now sleep very well and wake up fresh.

I also asked about the cost savings from bicycling instead of having to drive. In Peng Peng's case, the monthly savings are:
RM100 per month (petrol)
RM250 per month (gym membership)
RM1600 per month (extra car; with good public transport and cycling infrastructure, her household of 4 persons could make do with 1 car instead of 2 cars).

TOTAL savings: RM1950 per month (or USD475 per month)

NB. The monthly cost of car ownership in Malaysia is calculated to be from RM1579 (Perodua Myvi AV) up to RM2842 (Proton X70)
Source: https://balkonihijau.com/cost-of-car-...

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The public health benefit of getting more exercise as part of the commute is substantial. A detailed study by the city of Copenhagen found people who choose to bicycle instead of driving, saved society RM4 per km (USD1), which mainly stems from improved health (aka less strain on the public health sector), people being more energetic/productive at work and reduced pollution. Applying these numbers to Peng Peng's commute, the socio-economic cost savings from her bicycle commute would be RM104 per day (USD26), or about RM23,000 per year (USD5,600).

Imagine if 10% of Kuala Lumpur's population (1.9 million people) commuted by bicycle, this would save RM4.4 billion per year (USD1.1 billion). For comparison, the cost of building the Petronas Twin Towers was RM6.6 billion (USD1.6 billion), in other words, comparable.

Of course, the socio-economic benefit from bicycling would be different in Kuala Lumpur and Copenhagen. But the point that bicycling has significant socio-economic benefits remains.

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The city of Kuala Lumpur has a target of becoming a Zero Carbon city by 2050. One of the measures is to increasingly shift away from private vehicles and increase the use of public transport. Kuala Lumpur's city plan calls for reducing the trips by private vehicles from about 80% today (2021), to 40% (by 2030) and down to 30% (by 2040). Yet, most people who today want to bicycle to work have no other choice but to bicycle part of the way on highways and/or other big roads that are not safe for cycling. It should not be this way - especially in light of the lofty ambitions of the city of Kuala Lumpur of shifting away from private vehicles. I hope that this video documentation can help the city / traffic planners of Kuala Lumpur to understand the plight of bicycle commuters and make bicycle commuting a safe and realistic choice for most Kuala Lumpur residents.

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Highlights from the bicycle commute:
0:00 Trip summary & Interview Question replies
2:15 Starting the bicycle commute
3:05 Question: "Why are you bicycling to work?"
9:28 Highway
22:35 Most dangerous part
38:13 Cost of car ownership
53:55 Big grill - almost crash/accident!
1:04:06 Map

Bicycle route map on Strava:   / strava