Bus service specially for Malaysians

Mohamed Khaled (left) with SPAD chairman Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar (second from left) and Abdul Latiff (third from left). They and other VIPs took a ride on the newly launched Bas Muafakat Johor in Johor Baru. — Bernamapic

JOHOR BARU: Only Malaysians are allowed to use the Johor free public bus service while non-Malaysians have to use the paid bus services by other public bus operators.

Johor Local Government and Housing committee chairman Datuk Abdul Latiff Bandi said response to the Bas Muafakat Johor was good, with 20,000 Malaysians already registered as commuters since its introduction on April 1.

“We are targeting to register about 50,000 commuters by the end of the year and they have to pay only a minimum yearly charge to use the service,’’ he said on Friday.

Abdul Latiff told reporters this at the official launch of Bas Muafakat Johor service by Mentri Besar Datuk Mohamed Khaled Nordin, from Jalan Dato Onn to PPRT Sri Stulang here.

He said unlike the Selangor free bus service which allowed non-Malaysians, including foreign workers, to use the service there, the Johor free public bus service was meant only for the Malaysians.

Abdul Latiff said the Johor free bus service was initiated by the Johor Baru City Council (MBJB), Johor Baru Central Municipal Council (MPJBT), Pasir Gudang Municipal Council (MPPG) and Kulai Municipal Council (MPKu).

“Right now, we are using 30 buses covering 15 routes in the three local councils and we will review the operations from time to time by adding popular routes based on demand from users,’’ he said.

Abdul Latiff said MPJB had allocated RM5mil yearly to run the free bus services while MPJBT, MPPG and MPKu each contributed RM2mil.

He said commuters have to register for the service where they would be issued with a bus card and they have to show the card to the bus driver every time they use the service and tap the card on the card reader.

Abdul Latiff said all the 30 buses were installed with the GPS, CCTVs, user data base and free WiFi and were disabled-friendly, with several seats near the entrance reserved for the handicapped.

“We have received requests from Malaysians living in Johor Baru and working in Singapore to include Bangunan Sultan Iskandar CIQ complex as part of the route for the free bus service,’’ he said.

Abdul Latiff said the state authorities might consider their request as it could help to reduce congestion as the Causeway when taking public transport to go to Singapore.