KL schoolchildren living in low-cost housing to get free bus service

MORE than 10,000 pupils living in low-cost housing in Kuala Lumpur will be ferried to school on a fleet of vehicles for free when school reopens next week.

The free bus service is a programme under the MySchoolBus @Wilayah initiative.

Kuala Lumpur Mayor Datuk Kamarulzaman Mat Salleh said the number of applications for the free bus services for the 2024/2025 schooling session had increased compared to 2023.

"RM13mil to RM15mil was allocated to fund this programme annually, including RM100 for each student monthly.

"Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has appointed 107 bus operators in Kuala Lumpur to provide 221 buses and vans to ferry students to school.

"We hope that this would lessen the financial burden of the families," he said during the launch of the new MySchoolBus @Wilayah bus stickers at Institut Latihan DBKL in Kuala Lumpur.

The programme, which started in 2017, was initially called the Free School Bus Aid Programme.

It was rebranded to the MySchoolBus @Wilayah initiative, which is under the Federal Territories Ministry's Program Usaha Jaya Insan (Puji).

Minister in the Prime Minister Department (Federal Territories) Dr Zaliha Mustafa, who officiated the launch, said they would also conduct a study on how much the initiative helps students.

"It will also reduce the number of vehicles on the roads," she said.