Rapid KL City Shuttle

45 RapidKL bus routes to go straight into city centre

Klang Valley public transport operator RapidKL has announced that they will be making changes to 45 bus routes as of 16 November 2009.

According to a statement from RapidKL, these routes will go directly to the 'City Centre' reducing the need to change buses in the city centre.

This is expected to reduce the amount of money that occasional riders and those who have not purchased the monthly rapidpass would have to pay for their fares.

45 RapidKL bus routes to go straight into city centre

Petaling Jaya, 12 November 2009

Beginning 16 November 2009, RapidKL buses will go straight into the city centre, with the new re-alignment exercise involving 45 RapidKL bus routes.

The exercise involves 32 bus route extensions into the city centre, 11 re-aligned routes and two new routes being introduced.

Rangkaian Pengangkutan Integrasi Deras Sdn Bhd (RapidKL), the largest public transport operator in the Klang Valley, announced this during a Press Conference held at its office today.

RapidKL operates in 165 routes covering 980 housing estates daily. Since the introduction of the Zonal Fare System last September, bus passengers wanting to go into the City Centre will need [have needed] to change buses, and pay more. With the 45 newly re-aligned routes, these customers need not change buses thus no additional fares.

The new re-alignment exercise beginning 16 November will increase the current 184 buses operating in the 45 affected routes to 341 buses

Dato' Mohamed Hazlan Mohamed Hussain, RapidKL's Chief Operating Officer (Bus), said the re-alignments would make it easier for the customers as most of the routes would take the customers straight into the City Centre without having to change buses.

"The additional number of buses means <strong>better services, higher bus frequencies, shorter waiting period and more value for their money</strong>. This exercise will provide our customers with a more efficient service, in line with our efforts to ensure a better customer experience for our customers,” he added.

"For further information, customers can call our Helpline: 03-78852585 which operates from 7.00 am to 8.30 pm (Mon-Fri), 8.30 am to 5.30 pm (Sat-Sun) or surf our website http://www.rapidkl.com.my or provide feedback to [email protected]

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TRANSIT Says:

We are waiting on more details about which routes will be affected by this change on 16 November. But in the meantime, we wonder why RapidKL was not able to sustain the "Hub and Spoke" system that they introduced in 2006.

We would like to know were RapidKL will get the additional buses from, where the buses will go to in the "City Centre" and of course, how this will affect the Bas Bandar (City Shuttle) and Bas Tempatan (Local Shuttle) services.

When we have more information we will share it with you immediately.

Cheers, m

Highway buses in Klang Valley
By NG SI HOOI


PUTRAJAYA: Travel time by bus within the Klang Valley will be cut by almost half when the Rapid Bus Expressway Transit (RapidBET) system swings into action on Tuesday.

“BET is our first step towards transforming bus services to be attractive and accessible for all commuters,” Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat told reporters before chairing his ministry’s post-Cabinet meeting here yesterday.

Under the RapidBET system, buses will utilise less congested highways to link heavily populated areas and the city centre.

“Naturally, by using the highways, travel time is reduced.

“The service will have limited stops and rely on feeder buses and park-n-ride facilities to ensure sufficient ridership,” he told a press conference.

Two routes will be implemented in the introductory stage – from Kota Damansara to KL Sentral and Pasar Seni via the Penchala Link; and from Bandar Sungai Long to Pasar Seni via the Grand Saga Highway.

“Before the new system, the journey time from Kota Damansara to Pasar Seni was about two hours. Now, it is expected to take about 50 minutes.

“The travel time between Bandar Sungai Long and Pasar Seni was about 85 minutes and it will be reduced to 50 minutes,” he said.

He said the buses would run at 15 to 20-minute intervals during the morning and evening peak hours.

“Frequency and service periods will be increased in later stages depending on the demand,” he said.

Another two routes that had been identified and would be implemented later are from Subang Mewah to Pasar Seni via New Pantai Expressway and from Sri Muda to Pasar Seni via Kesas.

Ong said he had come across commuters who took two hours to get to work and another two hours to get back home.

“We must reduce the travel time and then move on to increase the level of comfort,” he said.

Ong will be joining commuters on Tuesday to experience the expected “smooth” journey.

Ong said the system was in line with the Government’s goal to increase the modal share of public transport in the Klang Valley from 10% to 25% by 2012.

Syarikat Prasarana Negara Berhad’s group communications general manager Ebi Azly Abdullah said the bus fare would remain the same – between RM1 and RM3 – but the service would be better.

theSun | Mon, 11 Jan 2010

Ong to meet Bandar Sunway reps over BRT
Meena L. Ramadas


TRANSPORT Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat will meet Bandar Sunway representatives to hear their views about the proposed BRT system expected to be implemented by 2012.

Ong said the ministry and Syarikat Prasarana Negara Berhad (SPNB) representatives met with Bandar Sunway residents earlier.

“During the meeting at a town hall, there were some individuals who raised concerns about the system, but I think (SPNB group managing director) Datuk Idrose (Ambrose) handled the discussion really well,” Ong said after inspecting the fourth set of the four-car light rail transit (LRT) train which began operation on the same day.

“The entire process was done in a very transparent manner,” he added.

The BRT system involves the use of buses travelling on designated lanes, to link passengers to train systems. It is used in Colombia, Australia and Europe.

It was reported the cost involved to implement the BRT is 10 times less than building an LRT station at Bandar Sunway.

The BRT system would cost RM25 million per kilometre while the LRT expansion cost RM250 million per kilometre.

Transport Ministry special adviser Muhamad Nur Kamal said the Puchong Utama corridor, one of the three corridors identified for the implementation of the BRT, will pass through Bandar Sunway.

The other two corridors are Jalan Cheras which will be launched first and Damansara Damai. Nur Kamal also said the ministry is pushing for a study to be commissioned on the BRT’s feasibility.

Meanwhile, Bandar Sunway resident’s association founding president Joe Gomez told theSun on Monday the BRT will not solve the transport issues faced by Bandar Sunway residents.

“The roads are already congested so how are they going to designate a special lane for the buses?” Gomez said.

“If the BRT is such a feasible solution from the cost and technological aspect, why wasn’t it discussed earlier?”

Gomez said discussion on a plan that does not even have a blueprint is futile.

Meanwhile, Bandar Sunway LRT Task Force co-chairman Goh Hai Thun said there was no use in focusing on the negative aspects of the BRT system.

“If there is an alternative solution to the problem, we should consider it,” Goh said.

“I strongly believe the government is doing their best,” he said.

Goh said SPNB acknowledged the fact that total light rail transit (LRT) ridership will increase by 5% when the extension project is finished.

“So, there is no reason why they would have left us (Bandar Sunway) out without justification,” he said.

Railway Department representatives had indicated that the four level Metropolitan junction was the main problem in extending the LRT line to Bandar Sunway.

Updated: 10:28AM Mon, 11 Jan 2010

The Star

Monday January 11, 2010
Smoother bus ride in Klang Valley

KUALA LUMPUR: The public transportation system, especially bus services in Malaysia, has long suffered the negative perception of being dubbed the “poor man’s” mode of travel.

It has also been made worse by the inefficient services rendered by the operators.

However, this image is set for an overhaul, following the Government’s plan to transform the system in the Klang Valley, for a start.

The congestion of city roads was identified as one of the main reasons for poor services, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat said in an interview.

“To overcome this, the Government has come out with three key services to be launched across 12 major city corridors heading into the central business area (CBD), namely Bus Expressway Transit (BET) and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and extending existing dedicated bus lanes system in the Klang Valley,” he said.

The BET service will be launched in the first quarter of this year on four under-utilised highways or four corridors in the Klang Valley with commuters enjoying a 55% reduction in travelling time.
Better ride: The Government also plans to upgrade 4,000 bus stops in the Klang Valley as at present, 40% are unsheltered and have no clear signage.

The bus service under the BRT will use priority toll booths to ensure smooth travelling and limited stop stations.

For a start, BET will swing into action tomorrow on two routes from Kota Damansara to KL Sentral and Pasar Seni via the Penchala Link, and from Bandar Sungai Long to Pasar Seni, via the Grand Saga Highway.

The journey from Kota Damansara to Pasar Seni is expected to be reduced from the current two hours to just 50 minutes, while travelling time from Bandar Sungai Long and Pasar Seni, currently taking about one-and-a-half hours, to 50 minutes.

The buses under the BET system will run at 15 to 20-minute intervals during the morning and evening peak hours.

The other two routes which have been identified and would be implemented later with BET, are from Subang Mewah to Pasar Seni via the New Pantai Expressway and from Sri Muda to Pasar Seni, via Kesas.

Ong said the BRT, on the other hand, would be similar to the city public transportation system implemented successfully in Curitiba, Brazil, and Bogota, Colombia, adding that these two systems (BET and BRT) would make it convenient for two million passengers daily.

The BRT provides faster services than the ordinary city bus in other cities in North America, Europe and Australia.

“For the Klang Valley, the BRT system will be launched across three major corridors heading into the city centre with a total route length of 49km. These corridors will be physically separated from existing lanes with concrete barriers and have dedicated stations for loading and unloading of passengers,” he said.

For the five remaining corridors, a dedicated bus lane system would be implemented without the actual physical segregation of lanes, but with lanes marked for flexible traffic management.

“For example, the bus lanes will only be used during the morning rush hour or in the evening peak hour with a total proposed route length of 21km,” noted Ong.

The implementation of the BRT and the dedicated bus lane system will provide an increase of 35,000 to 55,000 passenger load during the peak hour because of the expected reduction of travelling time.

There are currently 13 bus operators within the Klang Valley, with RapidKL holding a lion’s share of the market of 50%, with about 710 buses in operation daily, while an additional 400 new buses are expected to enter service in the next two years.

“In order to achieve bus share ridership of 100,000 passengers during peak hour (including BET, BRT and the dedicated bus lanes), we need a better service on existing routes. There is also a need for an additional 850 new buses, of which 400 units have already been purchased by Rapid KL,” he said.

The Government has also planned to upgrade 4,000 bus stops in the Klang Valley as at present 40% are unsheltered and have no clear signage.

The authorities also plan to remove some 700 express buses out of the city centre when the Bandar Tasik Selatan Integrated Transport Terminal (ITT) hub is completed in November, allowing for less congested traffic environment in the city.

With the completion of the Gombak ITT, also at the end of the year, and at a later stage, the Sungai Buloh ITT, over 2,000 express buses currently choking the city would be moved to the fringes of Kuala Lumpur. — Bernama