Boredworkers.com

I have never had much faith in the Malaysian public transport system. Way back when I was a secondary student, I covered alot of miles in public transportation. I found them to be inefficient and terribly uncoordinated. The buses are more often than not off schedule (there is no guarantee how long you’ll have to wait between buses), the cab drivers usually overcharge, and the rail transits are just overpriced ripoffs.

Last month, Rapid KL (the new [old] local bus company) were testing their new system and were giving out free rides on their new buses over a three day period. A week after that (16th January 2006), WL mentioned to me that Rapid KL were running a new promotion. They were offering day travel passes for RM2.00. I was sceptical about this, thinking that there was bound to be some sort of catch to it.

Well, I now have the brochure in hand. WL gave it to me two days ago and I hadn’t had the time to look at it until now. Obviously, WL wants to try it out but I’m still not too keen on jumping on and off buses on a hot Malaysian day. However, having perused the brochure, I must say that I’m quite impressed by the effort. If all they claim is true, then this might be worthwhile after all.

According to the brochure, for RM2.00 a day, you get unlimited rides on selected bus routes within Kuala Lumpur city centre. The major routes (or hubs) covered are:

• Titiwangsa:
  Between Jalan Tun Razak and Jalan Pekeliling Lama (Pekeliling Flats)
  Routes 101, 102, 103
• Maluri:
  In front of Maluri LRT (Jalan Cheras)
  Routes 111, 112, 113, 114
• Kuala Lumpur City Centre:
  In front of Suria KLCC (Jalan Ampang)
  Routes 104, 105, 106
• Medan Pasar:
  Along Jalan Hang Kasturi (Pasar Seni) until Medan Pasar (next to HSBC Bank)
  Routes 101, 102, 105, 108, 111, 113
• Kuala Lumpur Sentral:
  Between Jalan Bangsar and Jalan Tun Sambanthan
  Routes 109, 110, 115

That’s a total of 15 different routes with buses every 5 minutes. The day passes are valid on the day of the purchase and can be bought on any of the buses servicing the routes mentioned above. The brochure also claims that the buses being used for those routes are all new!

I drive by Maluri quite often and the number of new buses plying that route has definitely increased. The downside to all this is that the road passing Maluri is often jammed up with waiting buses. That is on top of the usual traffic that already clogs up the route to begin with. As a driver, I can’t say that I am at all impressed by the side effects.

The cheaper bus rides are all well and good but the problem with them is that it only covers routes within Kuala Lumpur city. The inter-city links are not covered. This limits the overal attractiveness of the package. Yes it is great for tourists visiting city but it doesn’t make much difference for office workers who commute to work everyday, as they still have to find their way to the hubs in order to take advantage of the discount. If they were to extend the services to cover all the routes, then I would be really impressed and may even consider taking public transportation to work.

I suppose that credit should be given to the bus company for taking the initiative to improve their system. I applaud their efforts and other similar initiatives (I noticed that over the years, KTM has improved the Komuter services tremendously). However until they improve to a point that it becomes efficient and cost effective, I’ll stick to driving as it is a lot more convenient inspite of the traffic and rising costs of petrol.

For more information, enquiries, and reference:
Rapid KL hotline: 1-800-388-228
Website: www.rapidkl.com.my
Email: suggest@rapidkl.com.my