PEOPLE who live, work or commute regularly within Bandar Puteri Puchong in Puchong, Selangor, have been urged to try the free demand-responsive transit (DRT) service that is presently on a three-month trial run.
Selangor local government, public transportation and new village development committee chairman Ng Sze Han encouraged the three groups to use the service called Trek Rides, instead of driving within the township.
“I also hope users will give their feedback during this trial period so that the vendor can improve on the service.
“Bandar Puteri Puchong was picked for the trial run because it is a mature township with residential and commercial components, including low-cost flats, banks, restaurants, supermarkets and train stations,” he said.
Trek Rides will cover 17 residential and 20 commercial stops including the Bandar Puteri and Taman Perindustrian LRT stations, Columbia Asia Hospital, banks and restaurants, plus support three existing feeder bus services within the zone.
Ng said the service, which runs from 8am to 8pm, started operating on March 15 with a limited fleet.
He added there were plans to have more vehicles and cover more areas including Pusat Bandar Puchong after the pilot phase.
Trek Rides merges ride-hailing with public transport to enable DRT services for first- and last-mile connectivity.
Passengers who book a ride on the app are matched to large vehicles, such as 10-seater vans.
Asia Mobiliti, which operates Trek Rides, described the on-demand transit service “as having the capacity and affordability of a public bus, but with the convenience and rich features of an e-hailing app”.
Its chief executive officer and co-founder Ramachandran Muniandy said in an email interview that the company saw a trend of commuters riding to and from the two LRT stations in the Bandar Puteri Puchong zone during the first week of operations.
“This zone was designed specifically to function as a first- and last-mile service, helping commuters and residents connect with the LRT service.
“Another hotspot is Four Points by Sheraton Puchong, as this hotel is located in the Puteri 1 commercial and financial centre,” he said.
Trek Rides driver Kalaiselvam Balakrishnan, who previously worked as a personal driver, said Asia Mobiliti trained him on using their in-house developed app. The passengers served during the trial run’s initial week comprised a mix of working adults, college and school students, and senior citizens.
The vehicles used are new 10-seater Hyundai Starias with dynamically configured seating capacity under the Trek Rides system (currently configured to a maximum of six passengers for added comfort).
Trek Rides is licensed under the Land Public Transport Agency’s bus-on-demand service, which requires drivers to possess a PSV licence. It is a type of vocational driving licence allowing the holder to drive any type of vehicle to transport paying passengers.
Ng, who personally tried Trek Rides on a late weekday morning, found it satisfactory, comfortable and punctual, but noted that the app could improve on the accuracy of the pickup point.
“There are plans to introduce another DRT trial run in a semi-urban township developed on a more piecemeal basis.
“It should ideally have a train station because the main purpose of the service is to address first- and last-mile connectivity,” he added.
Ng said the second trial run could be operated by a different vendor.
“The state government hasn’t decided on the vendor as we will need to monitor the trial run and assess whether they can meet our requirements,” he said.
He added that DRT was part of the RM25mil Selangor Mobiliti initiative to improve the state’s transport ecosystem.
For details or to sign up for the DRT trial run in Bandar Puteri Puchong, visit www.trekrides.com
