Go KL free bus service to cover Lembah Pantai, Setiawangsa

PETALING JAYA: The Go KL free bus service will introduce two new routes in the Lembah Pantai and Setiawangsa constituencies in Kuala Lumpur in conjunction with Federal Territories Day.

“The two additional routes will be launched by end February or early March, as part of Kuala Lumpur City Hall's (DBKL) efforts to reduce congestion and urban poverty in the city,” said Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan.

“We also want to provide an alternative for people to go to work or head to train or bus stations,” he added after observing traffic condition at Jalan Kerinchi here Saturday (Jan 5).

Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil, who contributed some input for the Lembah Pantai route, said the free bus service would benefit some 30,000 residents staying in Kerinchi and Pantai Dalam, particularly those in PPR and low-cost flats.

“Based on a site visit and route test by DBKL last month, they identified some local issues that need to be sorted out before the route is finalised,” he said.

Nor Hisham and Fahmi were earlier briefed by the Bangsar South developer on solutions to address traffic congestion in the Bangsar South and Kampung Kerinchi areas.

While Nor Hisham said the solutions were still under discussion, Fahmi later shared that some of those mooted included the construction of multi-storey parking facilities and restructuring existing traffic flow.

“One suggestion is for the construction of at least one multi-storey parking facility with at least 500 parking bays to address the issue of lack of parking space,” said Fahmi.

“There is also the possibility of changing traffic flow to cater to the high volume of traffic.”

Fahmi added that long-term and cohesive solutions were needed to address congestion in the area, which could spill over and affect neighbouring areas.

Nor Hisham noted that the congestion was partly due to the high volume of vehicles as well as the many developments in the area. This was made worse by illegally or double-parked vehicles and multiple traffic lights.

“Two of the aspects that will be looked into for the upcoming Kuala Lumpur City Plan (KLCP) 2040 are over-development and infrastructure,” he said.

“Over the next two years, starting this month, we will be engaging with all stakeholders to get ideas on how to solve the overall problems in Kuala Lumpur. 
These stakeholders include KL MPs, professionals and the general public.

“Under KLCP 2040, we hope to limit high-rise developments to certain zones only, reduce traffic congestion and promote a better quality of life for city folk,” said Nor Hisham.