Rangkaian Pengangkutan Integrasi Deras Sdn Bhd (RapidKL), a public transportation provider, expects the addition of 150 city buses to its service to increase service efficiency in the Klang Valley.
RapidKL is a subsidiary of government-owned, Syarikat Prasarana Negara
Berhad (Prasarana).
Group director of bus division Datuk Hazlan Mohamed Hussain said the
addition of the new buses would increase the frequency on routes, thus reducing waiting time for passengers.
“The new buses will be of much help, especially in areas where the waiting
time can be reduced,” he told reporters after a ceremony hand over the buses
by MAN Truck & Buses (M) Sdn Bhd (MTBM), here today.
Hazlan said with improved efficiency, the company hopes to attract more
customers to use its services and this would raise revenue accordingly.
The new MAN buses are disabled-friendly. Image courtesy of Bernama.
Meanwhile, the new buses, manufactured by MTBM, incorporate features for the disabled, including wheelchair ramps and a yellow coloured interior, for those who has vision problems. — Bernama
TRANSIT Says:
That’s good news, isn’t it? More new buses is always good news. We hope that Prasarana would be forthcoming with some details about the buses – technical details for the bus fans, route information for the planners, and design information for those of us who are interested in policy.
21 replies on “RapidKL adds 150 buses to boost frequency”
we are not so sure where are the new buses deployed. U74 to pantai hill park is plying every 5 mins, while on other routes, say U605 from Hentian Bandar Shah Alam to UiTM Puncak Perdana may depart every 50 mins. without the efficient last mile connection, people cannot have a smooth seamless journey no matter how great our trunk lines and rail lines are. we don’t know what time they come, we don’t know whether they will come, more so after 8pm, when i see more of them with lights shut and seats empty rushing back to depots, than serving the public.
Did they launch the Gps tracking thingy? Or did I missed that
@Mohd Hafiz
RapidKL did launch GPS tracking buses earlier, but they are not making the information public about which buses on which routes have GPS tracking already.
TRANSIT has been trying to encourage RapidKL to make their GPS tracking data public so that app-developers can work with the information and develop apps.
We would also like to see real-time bus tracking using a service like Nextbus or Google Transit. Even a phone line to the GPS tracking centre (as offered by RapidPenangs ICIS) would be a useful resource.
We do know that RapidKL has a real-time arrival board at Kelana Jaya LRT station – which means that there are at least 3 routes, perhaps 5, that have GPS tracking.
Regards, Moaz for TRANSIT
i think most rapidkl buses have gps tracking, you may notice it by observing the ticketing machine’s screen from the drivers side that it displays the location of the bus in sectors. It is quite accurate to the point that each bus stop has its own sector.
I hope they will make these data available to everyone.
now that with Touch and Go payment method, i suppose all RapidKL buses come with GPS tracking. only that they are reluctant to disclose the info. apart from Kelana, I have seen the electronic display erected at Bangsar LRT too (the parking apron for T634, not the bus stops on the main road). however, while these additions are warmly appreciated, what’s important is to enlarge the fleet. how many buses are plying in HK and SG, for their public transport to reach a remarkable 60% share of trips? but over here, we have other concerns too. already fleet is small, many buses are laying idly in the yard. so it’s about our work culture too. I hope these displays are not like KTM Komuters’, where it displays originally scheduled information, instead of updated latest information.
i am quite happy with rapidkl service in my area. U27, U30 are very good already – clean and frequent. Let other less frequent routes get the buses. Maybe, more shorter length buses can service the Tempatan routes in place of fewer but longer length buses. just my opinion.
Agree~ The buses now are cleaner. Actually I love RapidKL more than other bus service. XD
@jiexi23 i agree too. In fact i have not taken other buses except rapidkl. I never will, if i have a choice. SJ79 and Metrobus79 also service my area. Very frequent too. But nvr once i use their service. Keep up the good work. I will support you, always.
One major key point here. Timetable, timetable and nothing but an accurate timetable. More new routes, more/nearer bus stops and station, especially for the safety and convenient of elderly people, disabled and children.
Please increase the frequency of the bus to U73 and make it on time . Sometime the bus left earlier than i thought , and forced me to run behind the bus .
And upgrade the bus stop at KL Central too . Extend the bus stop shelter for passengers to shade under the sun , rain and typhoon .
Anyway RapidKL did a good job but the bus handrail is dirty ( suggested to sanitized after the bus reach back to the depot ) and some of the bus have the urine smell at the rear of the bus . Please take extra attention of this .
Thanks .
All the best to RapidKL .
Suzuki
Japan
currently home-staying in Malaysia
@Suzuki鈴木
Hopefully they will REALLY listen to foreigner’s complaint because we locals complaint until half dead already in many issues. Anyway, thank you.
“some of the bus have the urine smell at the rear of the bus”
someone has obviously been peeing behind the bus or due to bad air-conditioning and hot weather, Malaysians have got rather sweaty. thus the smell of uncensored urea.
“sun , rain and typhoon . ”
no worries. no typhoon in Malaysia.
@kite
no typhoon in Malaysia? Actually, parts of Sabah have been grazed by typhoon-force winds before. Also, although most typhoons are generated to the east of the Philippines & head north & west (usually striking any of: the Philippines, Vietnam, China, Taiwan and Japan), there is the occasional typhoon that heads west & north (past Sabah & Sarawak) instead.
Regards, Moaz for TRANSIT
Is RapidKL merely receving the new MAN buses they ordered early this year or are they ordering more.
I tot they ordered 150 buses which are the the current MAN buses we see in KL now.
So are these 150 buses an additional order?
So will we have 300 MAN buses or just the 150 ordered earlier?
Best to ask RapidKL directly, or perhaps @Pyan-Cgt on skyscrapercity.com
Regards, Moaz for TRANSIT
I appluad RapidKL for buying MAN buses, reminds me of Adelaide Metro buses and the interior is almost the same!! The current MAN busses seem to be more durable, I dun see any dents and hanging panels like I see on the Chin– brand buses.
Pity the c—— Badawi regime started RapidKL with the horrible China buses which were actually cost the same as the better quality MAN buses, that I think the old IVECO buses from Putraline was in better shape than the China buses.
[TRANSIT note: minor edits made to content but the message is still the same. You can figure out what the words are if you want/need to.]
@Forrestcat
One of the reasons that was given for purchasing the variety of buses from various Chinese companies (King Long, Higer & An Yuan among others) was that they were the only ones that could build the buses fast enough for KL’s needs.
Interesting to note that the same argument was used to justify the selection of CSR Zhuzhou Electric for the new Komuter trains … not to mention the inflated contract price.
Regards, Moaz for TRANSIT
How true is the fact that only the Chinese are the only ones who can make the deadline? The KilngLongs are possibly the best but the others will be junk soon enough..we’ll never know. Obviously Scomi had very cozy position during that era.
IMO, I think these 150 MAN buses are the one ordered earlier and not new additions,it does not seem right they will order the same number. I guess RapidKL is annoncing that it is getting almost all of the 150 buses it ordered earlier.I hope they order more MAN buses and later NGV buses as MAN is very competent in NGV buses.
As for the China trains, same situation but at least we know that no middle Malaysian company related to some minister is raking some dough from the deal(not that I know of now anyway)..so these purchase was possibly desperate to shore up the gahmen ratings, but at least the Germans and Siemens are involved in the design and supply of key component systems…that’s the only comfort we have.
Regardless of the source of the trains,the question is. Has KTM learned enough lessons from running the the current EMUs in terms of maintenance and operations? Hopefully they have and not make it into the book of records as having the biggest junkyard for Chinese made EMUs in the next 10 years.
@forrestcat
For the buses, we cannot really say. That is the reasoning that was given by the RapidKL CEO at the time.
RapidKL basically picked up 1000 buses from 3-4 different bus companies.
They appeared on the roads in the space of 8 months, from 16 January (Area 1 – City Shuttle), March & April (Area 2 & 3), to the end of August of that year (area 5 & 6.
3 or 4 different Chinese bus companies were involved, as well as a small fleet of Volvo chassis in early 2007 (the first batch of accessible buses).
Could RapidKL have done better if they had purchased buses from MAN, Mercedes, Scania, Volvo and IVECO back in 2006-2007? We don’t really know how much better shape they would be in now.
In any case, despite the presence of RapidKL buses on our roads, the fundamentals of the bus system still have not changed. That is the real problem that has to be dealt with.
Regards, Moaz for TRANSIT
eh, i tot somewhere i saw is 150 MAN, 150 Scania, 100 Kinglong with all same M’sian gemilang bus body? Maybe this is 1st batch of 150 buses ehh haha
These 150 MAN 18.280 HOCLN buses are part of the 400-bus order placed by Prasarana for RapidKL back in 2010. The other 250 buses includes 150 Scania K270UBs and 100 King Long XMQ6121G. The ceremony is an event to mark the completion of the 150-bus order and subsequent handover to Prasarana/RapidKL.
Transit Malaysia 
21 replies on “RapidKL adds 150 buses to boost frequency”
we are not so sure where are the new buses deployed. U74 to pantai hill park is plying every 5 mins, while on other routes, say U605 from Hentian Bandar Shah Alam to UiTM Puncak Perdana may depart every 50 mins. without the efficient last mile connection, people cannot have a smooth seamless journey no matter how great our trunk lines and rail lines are. we don’t know what time they come, we don’t know whether they will come, more so after 8pm, when i see more of them with lights shut and seats empty rushing back to depots, than serving the public.
Did they launch the Gps tracking thingy? Or did I missed that
@Mohd Hafiz
RapidKL did launch GPS tracking buses earlier, but they are not making the information public about which buses on which routes have GPS tracking already.
TRANSIT has been trying to encourage RapidKL to make their GPS tracking data public so that app-developers can work with the information and develop apps.
We would also like to see real-time bus tracking using a service like Nextbus or Google Transit. Even a phone line to the GPS tracking centre (as offered by RapidPenangs ICIS) would be a useful resource.
We do know that RapidKL has a real-time arrival board at Kelana Jaya LRT station – which means that there are at least 3 routes, perhaps 5, that have GPS tracking.
Regards, Moaz for TRANSIT
i think most rapidkl buses have gps tracking, you may notice it by observing the ticketing machine’s screen from the drivers side that it displays the location of the bus in sectors. It is quite accurate to the point that each bus stop has its own sector.
I hope they will make these data available to everyone.
now that with Touch and Go payment method, i suppose all RapidKL buses come with GPS tracking. only that they are reluctant to disclose the info. apart from Kelana, I have seen the electronic display erected at Bangsar LRT too (the parking apron for T634, not the bus stops on the main road). however, while these additions are warmly appreciated, what’s important is to enlarge the fleet. how many buses are plying in HK and SG, for their public transport to reach a remarkable 60% share of trips? but over here, we have other concerns too. already fleet is small, many buses are laying idly in the yard. so it’s about our work culture too. I hope these displays are not like KTM Komuters’, where it displays originally scheduled information, instead of updated latest information.
i am quite happy with rapidkl service in my area. U27, U30 are very good already – clean and frequent. Let other less frequent routes get the buses. Maybe, more shorter length buses can service the Tempatan routes in place of fewer but longer length buses. just my opinion.
Agree~ The buses now are cleaner. Actually I love RapidKL more than other bus service. XD
@jiexi23 i agree too. In fact i have not taken other buses except rapidkl. I never will, if i have a choice. SJ79 and Metrobus79 also service my area. Very frequent too. But nvr once i use their service. Keep up the good work. I will support you, always.
One major key point here. Timetable, timetable and nothing but an accurate timetable. More new routes, more/nearer bus stops and station, especially for the safety and convenient of elderly people, disabled and children.
Please increase the frequency of the bus to U73 and make it on time . Sometime the bus left earlier than i thought , and forced me to run behind the bus .
And upgrade the bus stop at KL Central too . Extend the bus stop shelter for passengers to shade under the sun , rain and typhoon .
Anyway RapidKL did a good job but the bus handrail is dirty ( suggested to sanitized after the bus reach back to the depot ) and some of the bus have the urine smell at the rear of the bus . Please take extra attention of this .
Thanks .
All the best to RapidKL .
Suzuki
Japan
currently home-staying in Malaysia
@Suzuki鈴木
Hopefully they will REALLY listen to foreigner’s complaint because we locals complaint until half dead already in many issues. Anyway, thank you.
“some of the bus have the urine smell at the rear of the bus”
someone has obviously been peeing behind the bus or due to bad air-conditioning and hot weather, Malaysians have got rather sweaty. thus the smell of uncensored urea.
“sun , rain and typhoon . ”
no worries. no typhoon in Malaysia.
@kite
no typhoon in Malaysia? Actually, parts of Sabah have been grazed by typhoon-force winds before. Also, although most typhoons are generated to the east of the Philippines & head north & west (usually striking any of: the Philippines, Vietnam, China, Taiwan and Japan), there is the occasional typhoon that heads west & north (past Sabah & Sarawak) instead.
Regards, Moaz for TRANSIT
Is RapidKL merely receving the new MAN buses they ordered early this year or are they ordering more.
I tot they ordered 150 buses which are the the current MAN buses we see in KL now.
So are these 150 buses an additional order?
So will we have 300 MAN buses or just the 150 ordered earlier?
Best to ask RapidKL directly, or perhaps @Pyan-Cgt on skyscrapercity.com
Regards, Moaz for TRANSIT
I appluad RapidKL for buying MAN buses, reminds me of Adelaide Metro buses and the interior is almost the same!! The current MAN busses seem to be more durable, I dun see any dents and hanging panels like I see on the Chin– brand buses.
Pity the c—— Badawi regime started RapidKL with the horrible China buses which were actually cost the same as the better quality MAN buses, that I think the old IVECO buses from Putraline was in better shape than the China buses.
[TRANSIT note: minor edits made to content but the message is still the same. You can figure out what the words are if you want/need to.]
@Forrestcat
One of the reasons that was given for purchasing the variety of buses from various Chinese companies (King Long, Higer & An Yuan among others) was that they were the only ones that could build the buses fast enough for KL’s needs.
Interesting to note that the same argument was used to justify the selection of CSR Zhuzhou Electric for the new Komuter trains … not to mention the inflated contract price.
Regards, Moaz for TRANSIT
How true is the fact that only the Chinese are the only ones who can make the deadline? The KilngLongs are possibly the best but the others will be junk soon enough..we’ll never know. Obviously Scomi had very cozy position during that era.
IMO, I think these 150 MAN buses are the one ordered earlier and not new additions,it does not seem right they will order the same number. I guess RapidKL is annoncing that it is getting almost all of the 150 buses it ordered earlier.I hope they order more MAN buses and later NGV buses as MAN is very competent in NGV buses.
As for the China trains, same situation but at least we know that no middle Malaysian company related to some minister is raking some dough from the deal(not that I know of now anyway)..so these purchase was possibly desperate to shore up the gahmen ratings, but at least the Germans and Siemens are involved in the design and supply of key component systems…that’s the only comfort we have.
Regardless of the source of the trains,the question is. Has KTM learned enough lessons from running the the current EMUs in terms of maintenance and operations? Hopefully they have and not make it into the book of records as having the biggest junkyard for Chinese made EMUs in the next 10 years.
@forrestcat
For the buses, we cannot really say. That is the reasoning that was given by the RapidKL CEO at the time.
RapidKL basically picked up 1000 buses from 3-4 different bus companies.
They appeared on the roads in the space of 8 months, from 16 January (Area 1 – City Shuttle), March & April (Area 2 & 3), to the end of August of that year (area 5 & 6.
3 or 4 different Chinese bus companies were involved, as well as a small fleet of Volvo chassis in early 2007 (the first batch of accessible buses).
Could RapidKL have done better if they had purchased buses from MAN, Mercedes, Scania, Volvo and IVECO back in 2006-2007? We don’t really know how much better shape they would be in now.
In any case, despite the presence of RapidKL buses on our roads, the fundamentals of the bus system still have not changed. That is the real problem that has to be dealt with.
Regards, Moaz for TRANSIT
eh, i tot somewhere i saw is 150 MAN, 150 Scania, 100 Kinglong with all same M’sian gemilang bus body? Maybe this is 1st batch of 150 buses ehh haha
These 150 MAN 18.280 HOCLN buses are part of the 400-bus order placed by Prasarana for RapidKL back in 2010. The other 250 buses includes 150 Scania K270UBs and 100 King Long XMQ6121G. The ceremony is an event to mark the completion of the 150-bus order and subsequent handover to Prasarana/RapidKL.