Zaliha (right), Noridah (left) and Kamarulzaman (second from right) showing one of the buses bearing the new sticker.
IN A bid to reduce the burden of the B40 group, the rebranded MySchoolBus@Wilayah programme is offering free bus services to schoolchildren living in low-cost housing schemes.
The programme by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), which started in 2017, was initially called the Free School Bus Aid Programme.
It now falls under the Federal Territories Ministry’s “Program Usaha Jaya Insan” (Puji).
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Zaliha Mustafa said it was meant to cushion the financial impact of rising prices on the urban poor.
“A report by Unicef in 2020 found that poverty significantly reduced educational opportunities,” she said during the MySchoolBus @ Wilayah DBKL corporate bus sticker launch.
According to Zaliha, more than 10,000 schoolchildren will enjoy the free bus service for the 2024/2025 school term.
“There is an increase of 11% in the number of applicants compared to the previous school term,” she said.
“The efficient use of school buses will also indirectly reduce traffic congestion. This is a pressing issue due to the high number of vehicles in the capital, reaching 1.2 million to 1.5 million vehicles per day.”
Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Kamarulzaman Mat Salleh said RM13mil to RM15mil was allocated to fund this programme annually.
“The cost for each student using the bus service is expected to be around RM100 monthly.
“DBKL has appointed 107 bus operators in Kuala Lumpur to provide 221 buses and vans to ferry the students to school.
“The new bus also has a new look,” he said.
Also present at the bus sticker launch was Federal Territories Department director-general Datuk Noridah Abdul Rahim.
