A large-scale adoption of electric buses (EBs) is a promising solution to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector. In the upcoming decades, the development of EB technologies will be initiated worldwide, including in Malaysia. Government policies to support EB deployments have been widely established. Therefore, Malaysia’s National Automotive Policy has stated a roadmap of policies to promote a national groundwork accordingly. Following the elaboration of Malaysia’s goals for EBs deployments by 2014 and 2020, there are crucial associated topics for EBs implementation, including EB innovations and technologies adoption. This study presents a deep discussion about the groundwork of EB innovations that have been initiated in Malaysia to meet the roadmap targets. This paper also comprehensively reviews the technical specifications of EB innovation technologies, including Electric Bus Innovation Malaysia, Malaysia Automotive Institute, and Go Auto prototypes. In addition, this study outlines the EB technologies that have been launched in three states in Malaysia, known as Putrajaya, Melaka, and Sarawak. Furthermore, a generic framework for life cycle assessments of EB is presented, focusing on the economic and environmental impacts. This framework provides the necessary groundwork for further studies on charging infrastructure requirements.

Wayfinding is the process of navigating the environment by using the available environmental cues. The issue of wayfinding difficulty in large healthcare facilities has grabbed the attention of many researchers in terms of its potential taxing effects on both users and institutions alike. While the challenge of regulating the process of designing wayfinding systems is still an active field of investigation, there has been a paucity of research addressing the challenge of distributing way-showing items based on users’ performance within healthcare environments. This study proposes a wayfinding enhancement scheme whereby users’ wayfinding performance data forms the basis of the process of distributing way-showing items within an outpatient unit in Malaysia. Furthermore, two virtual reality experiments were carried out, the first representing the existing wayfinding system and the second representing the new distribution. A cross-comparison between the two sets of results was conducted to evaluate the effect resulting from altering the as-built wayfinding system. The results indicated an overall reduction of time consumed to reach the same destinations as well as lesser distances traveled within the environment resulting from the implementation of the new distribution. This study puts forward the concept of implementing virtual reality environments to address wayfinding systems’ design challenges in healthcare facilities rather than relying on designers’ intuition.

The difficulty of finding one’s way in a complex structure has been a long-standing issue of many buildings with highly institutionalized functions. This has been especially observed in hospital buildings as an issue that can cause various adverse outcomes for both the institution and the user. Therefore, regular evaluation of the existing wayfinding system and its efficacy is needed. This study aimed to evaluate the wayfinding system efficacy in an outpatient unit of a Malaysian public hospital in order to provide information that could help guide future upgrade initiatives for existing healthcare facilities’ wayfinding systems. This study employed a user survey questionnaire to evaluate the wayfinding system currently in use and investigate users’ needs for a better wayfinding system. The statistical analysis of the gathered data indicated a higher than average level of dissatisfaction regarding the existing wayfinding system. The findings of the study suggest the need for an upgrade in the physical environment. Furthermore, the results of this study suggest the need to devise a set of guidelines to be employed when designing wayfinding systems in Malaysia’s public hospitals.