Announcement: RapidKL moving from day pass to zonal system

TRANSIT has been informed that RapidKL is moving from a day pass to a zonal system of 1-way fares, effective September 1. The statement from RapidKL (on their website) is here. A new fare table (from the website) can be found here.

Media Statement: English, B.Malaysia
Articles and Comments – New Straits Times, The Star, Malay Mail, Malaysiakini.com

Utama / Main Buses
For the Utama / Main buses, there will be 4 zones. 

The first zone is up to 4km radius from Kuala Lumpur city centre.  The second zone is from 4-9km radius, while the third zone is 9-14km radius from the city centre.  Zone 4 is 14-19km and further outwards.

[TRANSIT: We are trying to find some accurate maps of the zones for your information. We have also requested that RapidKL design accurate zone maps and place them on the website and on bus stands]

According to the new fare structure, 1-way travel in:

• 1 zone will cost RM1.00 (adult), RM0.50 (concession)
• 2 zones will cost RM1.90 (adult), RM0.90 (concession)
• 3 zones will cost RM2.50 (adult), RM1.20 (concession)
• 4 or more zones will cost RM3.00 (adult), RM1.50 (concession)

Other Buses
For the other bus services, there will also be 1-way fares, namely:

• Temptatan/Local – RM1.00 (adult), RM0.50 (concession)
• Bandar/City – RM1.00 (adult), RM0.50 (concession)
• Ekspres/Express – RM3.80 (adult), RM1.90 (concession)

Touch ‘n’ Go Daily Pass

For Touch ‘n’ Go users, RapidKL will be offering maximum daily fares at:

• Bandar/City – RM3.00
• Tempatan/Local – RM3.00
• Utama/Main – RM7.50
• Ekspres/Express – RM10.00 

Unfortunately, according to RapidKL’s website this Touch ‘n’ Go daily pass service may not be available on September 1 due to ‘technical issues’.  There also appears to be no concession pass offered for Touch ‘n’ Go users who are students, OKU or elderly.

Monthly Travel Cards

In addition to the new system of 1-way fares, RapidKL is also introducing 2 new passes and increasing the cost of two of the 3 existing passes:

New Passes:

• Tempatan/Local (for users on Tempatan/Local buses only), RM40
• Konsesi/Concession (for students in school uniform, OKU and those elderly aged 60+), RM50

Older passes:

• Semua (all Buses), old fare RM80, new fare RM100
• Sepadu/Integrated (for bus and LRT use), Old fare RM135, new fare RM150
• LRT (for LRT only) – RM100 (same as before)

The holder of the integrated pass,  spouse and up to four children under 15 can enjoy free rides on weekends and public holidays.

Tempatan to Utama buses

According to RapidKL, because some Tempatan/Local buses travel in more than 1 zone, they will be converted to Utama / Main buses and the 1-way fare zone system will apply.  These routes are:

T412	U412	Pangsun	Batu 9, Cheras
T415	U415	Beranang	Kajang
T423	U423	TUDM Sungei Besi	KL Sentral
T429	U429	Putrajaya Sentral	Cyberjaya
T432	U432	Puncak Jalil	LRT Sungei Besi
T601	U601	Klang	Hentian Bandar Shah Alam
T605	U605	Puncak Perdana	Sek 2 Shah Alam
T618	U618	Titiwangsa	Kompleks Kerajaan Jalan Duta
T623	U623	LRT Kelana Jaya	Subang Parade

Also, Route T432, (Puncak Jalil to Serdang KTM Station) will be converted to a Utama route and extended to Sungei Besi LRT Station.

TRANSIT Says:

As you might expect, we at TRANSIT are disappointed by RapidKL’s sudden change from the daily pass system to the 1-way zone based system and accompanying increase in fares.

We hope that RapidKL would give some reasons to justify the increase in the fare. We will give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that they have been told to do this by the government, or that their costs have increased and, as a result they have had to pass on an increase to consumers.

But the benefit of the doubt will only last so long. In the absence of information, proof from RapidKL to show that they need to increase fares because their costs have increased, what are we (the public and TRANSIT) supposed to believe? Consider the comments posted already, such as this article in the Star.

We at TRANSIT would like to remind RapidKL that the fares set by the Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board are ceiling fares, and that companies can and should charge less whenever possible.

We also wish to state the public transport is a public service and the focus should be on maintaining and increasing service, rather than profits.

Finally, we would like to point out to RapidKL that, according to their own words, they do not have enough employees to drive the buses they have, and are having trouble recruiting employees.

If this is the case, then why is CEO Suffian talking about buying more buses? Perhaps they should focus on getting more drivers for the buses they already have … and, not to mention, training them a little bit more carefully and thoroughly in things like safe and defensive driving, customer service and professionalism and respect for others.