Wee: My30 travel pass saw overwhelming sale

PETALING JAYA: The My30 unlimited travel pass for citizens in rail and bus offered by Prasarana Malaysia Bhd saw an overwhelming sale of more than 600,000 passes as of October, says Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.

“The My30 is an improvement over the My50 or My100 travel passes, and expected to benefit more than two million commuters.

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“In the five months since My30 was introduced in Klang Valley, we saw an uptake of more than 130,000 passes each month, even during the conditional Movement Control Order, proving the strong underlying demand for quality public transport services, ” Dr Wee said, adding that commuters outside of Kuala Lumpur were not forgotten.

Students from Year One to Form Six as well as the disabled may buy a new RM5 monthly pass to use KTM Komuter on routes such as Tanjung Malim-Port Klang, Batu Caves-Tampin (via Seremban), Butterworth-Padang Besar and Bukit Mertajam-Padang Rengas.

These passes will be sold to eligible students from Jan 1,2021, while those who are disabled must be registered with the Social Welfare Department.

Likewise, students in the rural areas of Kelantan and Sabah will also enjoy the same RM5 monthly travel pass. A total of RM300mil was allocated to make stage bus and rail services even more affordable via the My30 unlimited travel pass for citizens until Dec 31,2021.

In Penang, Prasarana has the Mutiara Pass that allows unlimited use for Rapid Penang buses as well as the ferry, all for only RM50 a month.

Next year, My30 will also cover Kuantan and Penang by allowing commuters unlimited rides on Rapid buses for only RM30 a month.

If anything, the huge uptake for the My30 pass shows that many are willing to return to public transport when normalcy gradually returns.

“All these are part of the government’s obligation to provide a safety net for the people by reducing their overall cost of living by providing better access at a fair price, ” said Dr Wee.

On the recently unveiled Budget 2021, Dr Wee said the overall amount of RM322.5bil was a show of determination to revive the economy.

“These include the continuation of large-scale infrastructure to facilitate mobility such as the Pan Borneo Highway, the Gemas-Johor Baru double tracking, phase 1 of the rehabilitation of the Klang Valley Double Track (KVDT1), all of which were allocated an amount of RM15bil.

“At the same time, the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high speed rail and MRT3, or the Circle Line of the Klang Valley MRT project, will proceed as planned, ” he said in a recent interview.

The allocation for the Transport Ministry is at RM6.05bil, a 67.47% increase compared to the preceding year. “The allocation for Budget 2021 took place under exceptional circumstances, with various sectors of the economy and country battered by Covid-19.

“However, taking the long term view that public transport remained as an essential public good or service, the government will continue with the expansion of the current network while plugging the gaps so as to improve the delivery of services to the people, ” added Dr Wee

Efforts are also being made to improve the overall quality of stage coaches, especially through the Stage Bus Services Transformation (SBST) Programme.

SBST improves stage bus services by providing efficient, comfortable, and reliable services in under-served areas to ensure optimum coverage and accessibility to the network for 80% of the population.

The programme has so far been rolled out in Kangar, Seremban, Ipoh and Kuala Terengganu.

From next year, SBST will be expanded to operators in Johor Baru, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu and Kuantan with an allocation of RM150mil.

Other forms of assistance to the people include the Additional Prihatin Special Grant (Geran Khas Prihatin Tambahan) of RM1,000 for drivers of taxis, e-hailing vehicles, rental cars as well as tour guides in Sabah.

The Transport Ministry is also pledging to tighten monitoring of motorcycle couriers (p-hailing) even as it recognises that motorcycle-based deliveries provide substantial employment to the B40 group.

“That said, regulation is needed to ensure compliance to good road etiquette, traffic laws and overall safety guidelines to uphold the interests of workers, maintain businesses competitiveness and sustainability, and protect community welfare, ” said Dr Wee.