More buses in Putrajaya to overcome parking problem at precincts
By CHARLES FERNANDEZ Monday November 1, 2010
http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2010/11/1/central/7328278&sec=central
At your service: The new buses will ply
areas where the bigger ones do not go to.
PERBADANAN Putrajaya (PPj) will be adding another 25 buses to its fleet of 150 by March next year to overcome the congestion and parking problem in the federal administrative capital.
The new buses, which are smaller than the ones being used now, will service the housing areas. The big buses only travel along the main roads in the housing areas.
PPj president Tan Sri Samsuddin Osman said this was to overcome the parking problem at the precincts where the government offices were located and to encourage more government servants to use the bus service.
“The Putrajaya Park and Ride (P&R) system will be enhanced and awareness created to encourage the working population to use the facilities,’’ he said.
PPj has also launched a campaign “Jom Naik Bas” to encourage residents to use the buses to get to work to overcome congestion and parking problems.
Samsuddin said the new buses would cater for residents living in apartment blocks and hoped there would no longer be double and illegal parking at the government offices.
The buses are said to be running empty most of the time although they provide the connection between the major residential areas and the city centre.
Drivers have claimed that there were no passengers to pick up along the route although they keep strictly to schedules.
Despite running empty most of the time, drivers have been told to keep schedules in an effort to create awareness on the availability of buses on these routes.
“With the increase in the number of buses, the routes will also be increased so that every area is covered. There is no excuse not to use the bus service. The fares are kept at 50sen and there are buses every 15 minutes. Previously the service was every 30 minutes,’’ said Samsuddin.
He said PPj was encouraging the P&R system where motorists could park their vehicles for RM2 and use the same parking ticket to hop onto any bus for any number of rides on the same day.
He said the new buses would also be convenient for schoolchildren during the morning, afternoon and evening hours.
“These buses can pack in about 40 passengers,’’ he said.
He said the buses would be a common feature in Precinct 9 and Precinct 15 where many of the government quarters and apartment blocks were located.
He added that PPj would also be providing more covered bus shelters which would be built in stages Putrajaya Holdings (PjH).
Samsuddin said both PPj and PjH had done their best and the residents could reciprocate by using the facilities available to prevent pollution and traffic congestion near the government buildings.
