KUCHING: Members of the SME Association of Sarawak were given the opportunity to test ride Sarawak’s hydrogen-powered Autonomous Rapid Transit (ART) prototype vehicle at the Isthmus near here recently.
SME Sarawak’s secretary-general, Alan Wei, led over 60 members who also received comprehensive briefings from Sarawak Metro.
“The briefings covered the technological components and the functioning of the zero-emission vehicle, which is designed to modernise the public transport system and alleviate traffic congestion in Kuching City,” it said in a press release on Tuesday (Oct 24).
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“According to Sarawak Metro, Phase 1 of the KUTS projects is scheduled to start operations in the fourth quarter of 2025.”
The ART vehicles will be operated on dedicated lanes and will not share existing roads with other vehicles. The lanes will be either at-grade or elevated and since the ART vehicles run on rubber tyres the dedicated lanes will be trackless.
The heart of this project is the ART system, which will be backed by a network of feeder buses.
Additionally, using hydrogen to fuel public transport vehicles for KUTS aligns with Sarawak’s goal to promote the hydrogen economy and achieve developed state status by 2030.
“Phase One of the KUTS Project is the development of three lines – the Blue Line (from Rembus Kota Samarahan to Kuching City centre) covering a distance of 27.5km, the Red Line (Kuching Central to Pending) covering a distance of 12.3km and the Green Line (from Pending to Damai Central) covering a distance of 30km,” it added.
Also present were SME Sarawak Council members accompanied by its president Jordan Ong, vice president Aw Hun Meng, assistant treasurer Alvin Chong, committee member Ng Soon Tong and Garett Sim.
