‘Reducing bus passengers’ waiting time is priority’

A LIMIT in terms of radius or area of coverage is placed on the Smart Selangor Bus service to better manage passengers’ waiting time and bus travel time.

State investment, trade and mobility committee chairman Ng Sze Han said if the area of coverage for a bus route is extended, it would result in longer travel time and longer wait for passengers.

Smart Selangor Bus is a bus service initiated by the state government, under the purview of local councils.

The service is free for Malaysians and costs 90sen per trip for foreigners.

Ng was replying to Muhammad Izuan Ahmad Kasim (PH-Kota Damansara) who asked why a limit was placed as it meant that some suburbs in his constituency were unable to enjoy the service.

Mu’izzuddeen Mahyuddin (PN-Hulu Bernam) asked a supplementary question on whether the state government planned to review existing bus routes so that Hulu Bernam residents could also benefit from the service.

To that, Ng said Hulu Selangor Municipal Council (MPHS) provided Smart Selangor Bus service there, but might not cover the area mentioned by Mu’izzuddeen, and asked him to suggest additional areas to MPHS.

Ng said 65 million passengers had used the service since its launch in July 2015 until September this year.

“Although it is well-received, the number of passengers is not a yardstick to determine the programme’s success as it is not meant to make a profit,” he said in reply to Mu’izzuddeen’s original question on the state’s plans to improve the service.

“Its objective is to encourage the use of public transport across all levels of society, in addition to reducing the financial burden for low-and middle-income groups.

“Moving forward, the state government is looking for more proactive solutions to achieve higher public transport use.

“Selangor Mobility, which is a rebranding of the Selangor public transport system, will now be a system that combines all aspects of transport under one roof and is guided by data analysis.”

While there are no plans to discontinue Smart Selangor Bus, Ng said the service would be reviewed and adjusted from time to time.

This would be done while taking into account the consolidation or combination with several other modes of transport under Selangor Mobility, such as the demand responsive transit (DRT) service.