Updates #83

Updates #83

1. Article: Free Rides (Streets – NST, 26 April 2011) – NST Streets takes a look at 4 free community shuttle buses in the Kuala Lumpur area. More information on shuttle “schedules” can be found here.

[TRANSIT: Aside from the Sunrise shuttle bus, IOI Shuttle Bus, Midvalley and Bangsar Shopping Centre buses, there are additional shuttle buses serving areas in PJ (MBPJ Community Shuttle, Kelana Jaya – Tropicana City Mall, Kelana Jaya – Bandar Utama & 1Utama, Kelana Jaya – The Curve/Ikano/IKEA), Sunway (Sunway Community Shuttle), and additional mall shuttles not mentioned in the article.]

2. Article: Iskandar bus service has benefited a million people (NST, 26 April 2011) – Up to last month, the Iskandar Malaysia bus service which was launched in February last year, has benefited a million passengers.

A total of 34 Iskandar Malaysia buses are servicing 17 routes in the southern development corridor.

[TRANSIT: That could mean only two buses per route – an unbelievably low level of service for these “social” routes. We will look for more details, but in the meantime, someone start investing in more buses please!]

Ismail said the government allocated RM7.6 million annually for three bus operators to run the social routes, which provide affordable public transport to the people.

The bus fare ranges from RM1 to RM4, depending on the distance travelled.

About 93,000 passengers make use of the service every month. The routes which register the biggest number of passengers are Kota Iskandar, Gelang Patah, Masai and Pasir Gudang.

3. Article:
LRT will be close to our homes, says residents (The Star, 27 April 2011) – residents of Putra Heights & Subang Alam continue to object to the routing of the Kelana Jaya LRT extension through their community – and they got the Selangor Menteri Besar to see the area for himself. This article suggests that the Selangor Government has approved of the project in principle, while this article suggests the same from the MPSJ. The project is waiting for a final Go-ahead from the MPSJ (the bulk of both LRT extensions runs through MPSJ areas – Kinrara, Puchong, Putra Heights & Subang Jaya).

4. Letter: Taxpayers’ money well spent on Puduraya (The Star, 27 April 2011) – James Gonzales of KL comments on the refurbished & recently reopened Puduraya terminal.

5. Blog: Malay ladies,Indonesians and “leng chai” in the ladies coach. (Riot.Silence.Disturbance, 24 April 2011) – A blogger comments on observations of how female passengers responded to male passengers entering the women-only coach.

6. Article: Ulat tiket ubah ‘port’ (Harian Metro, 30 April 2011) – Ticket touts have changed their operations at Puduraya, going to Plaza Kota Raya to get passengers. However, SPAD enforcement is empowered to do their job anywhere they like (not just in terminals).

[TRANSIT: And since SPAD is empowered and wants to be proactive, we need to provide support – so if you are approached by touts, inform SPAD.]

7. Article: Seremban-Gemas EDT Project Ready In August Next Year (Bernama, 30 April 2011) – The 98km project is expected to be completed on schedule. EMU train service to Sg. Gadut station was predicted to start in May 2011, but may be slightly later.

8. Article: More people expected to use public transport, says MPSJ (The Star, 30 April 2011) – MPSJ expects to see a jump in public transport use (up to 20% from the current 5%) with the completion of the LRT extension.

[TRANSIT: It’s not as if they actually plan to do anything to improve public transport themselves – unlike MBPJ which has a plan – sort of.]