#05 - Bicycle to Work, 11km, Simon, Kuala Lumpur City Center - Taman Desa

Watch Simon (60 years old Malaysian) on his bicycle commute from the center of Kuala Lumpur to his home in Taman Desa 11 km way. Simon moved to Kuala Lumpur in 2019 and did not think bicycle commuting would be possible, so for the first year, he took the bus. But by exploring different walking and motorbike routes on Google Maps, he found motorbike underpasses of the big highways that allowed him to bicycle to work.

In this video, I join Simon on his return trip from is downtown workplace (the Vortex Suites KLCC building, Jalan Sultan Ismail), to his home in Taman Desa (the Abadi Villa Condominium). The 1-hour journey starts at 5:30pm on Sunday, 19 March 2023.

Simon is a passionate advocate for improved public transport and infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists. And he has his own YouTube channel called CycleForLife (   / @cycleforlife2170  .

In Simon's own words, you kill many birds with one stone by bicycling, mentioning the following advantages in the video:
1) It’s healthy, I get exercise
2) Good for mental health (stress relief)
3) Reduces air pollution from traffic
4) Reduces traffic congestion
5) Reduces traffic deaths, especially for the 10-20 year old population segment
6) Reduces need for petrol subsidies
7) Travel time more certain than for public transport (bus)
8) Flexibility
9) Easy to do errands / make food stops

Video highlights include:
0:05 Starting the bicycle commute
2:25 Passing the free electric busses in Kuala Lumpur
6:07 Passing lots of electric skip-scooters parked at the station. Currently not allowed on the road, but the city council of Kuala Lumpur is currently reconsidering the decision
8:29 Passing city square (Dataran Medan Pasar) where all the trees have been cut down!
10:06 Entering the River of Life boardwalks along the Klang River. Some boards are missing / warping. Quality could have been better. But great initiative.
11:01 The "surprise" staircase on the River of Life, dangerous for cyclists.
12:42 Interestingly, Simon prefers to ride on the road (smoother) than on the River of Life at this section.
15:33 Passing person on the too narrow stretch of River of Life, should be widened.
16:00 Simon telling about his commuting story, first bus, then bicycling, when moving to Kuala Lumpur in 2019.
22:22 Simon telling about the good food places in Brickfields :-)
24:38 Simon wishing for safer road crossing for River of Life
25:19 Improvements for night lighting and smoother path surface for River of Life. Simon and I both agree on this.
28:43 Bollards have been removed (as usual), so motorbikes can pass through on bicycle lane. And even cars!
32:00 Watering transplanted tree
33:16 The block bicycling and motorbike lane along the Federal Highway. Scandalous!
34:15 Map showing the motorbike (and bicycle lane) that needs to be re-established along the Federal Highway. Please.....
36:20 Passing the underpass to Seputeh and Cheras (from Taman Desa)
38:00 Turning into Taman Desa
39:20 Asking Simon to explain his commute when going by public transport (bus) versus bicycling. Detailed explanation of time duration, cost and travel time uncertainties. Did a mistake in the comparison table, so here are the figures:
COMMUTE BY BUS: 65-120 minutes (cost RM1.50)
COMMUTE BY BICYCLE: 80 minutes (free). NB. The commute in this video only took 60 minutes
41:29 Reason why Simon prefer bicycling to public transportation
42:20 Did Simon manage to inspire other people to commute by bicycle?
44:25 Listing all the good reasons to bicycle :-)
45:00 The 300-400 annual road deaths of 10-20 year old from using motorbikes. If only we can get the to bicycle instead.....
46:30 The 32,000 pre-mature annual deaths in Malaysia caused by air pollution, according to the collaborative study by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air and Greenpeace Malaysia, that states that the air pollution in Malaysia exceeds the WHO guidelines by more than 300%. Link: https://paultan.org/2023/03/14/iqair-...
52:34 View of the Kerayong river bank where many (fruit) trees have been planted. Often, this kind of informal agriculture is seen on the Malaysian urban riverbanks.
54:13 We arrive at the end destination. Simon's home in Taman Desa.
55:24 Map route and trip statistics. Link to map on Strava:   / strava  
55:30 Map. Bicycle connector to River of Life and downtown Kuala Lumpur.
55:35 Recap of Simon's ride and messages

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Enjoy the ride!

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Note:
The video is filmed with a GoPro 8 mounted on a chest strap.
Route map:   / strava  
Simon's YouTube channel:    / @cycleforlife2170