More favouring bus and train

PETALING JAYA: Following a pronounced dip during the Covid-19 pandemic, public transport ridership is well on the way to recovery, with the figure two months ago more than twice of that in January 2022.

Malaysia reopened its borders in April 2022 and began its transition to the endemic stage.

According to figures by the Transport Ministry on the government’s open data website, data.gov.my, the monthly figure doubled from 14 million passengers in January 2022 to 31 million in November last year.

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This was mainly due to the urban rail services in Klang Valley, followed by bus services.

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Prasarana Malaysia Bhd, the operator of trains and buses with the Rapid branding, said the combined monthly ridership of its services across the Klang Valley, Penang, and Kuantan stood at 21,782,019 in January last year.

But by November last year, the number improved to 29,674,880 – a 36% jump.

The Kelana Jaya LRT line, which retained its title as the most well-used urban rail line, posted 6,630,252 riders two months ago, compared with 5,465,184 in January last year. This represented a 21% jump.

As the second most used urban rail line, Kajang MRT posted a 34% growth, from 4,557,793 to 6,133,584 riders for the corresponding period.

Regular public transport users are well aware that such services have become more popular as they found greater numbers of passengers during their daily commute compared to before.

Executive Lee Jia Xin, 23, said that she often had to wait for the next train during peak hours.

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“Although the MRT is bigger, the train is extremely packed going to and from work every day. Sometimes it’s so packed I have to wait for the next train,” she said.

This, she said, was more obvious towards the second half of last year.

Lee, however, is happy about the frequency of the trains.

“It’s better than being stuck in rush-hour traffic,” she said.

Digital marketer Aiman Zulfiqar, 30, who takes the train to commute to work, also observed that there is a higher volume of passengers.

“Compared to a few years ago, even before the Covid-19 pandemic, I think there are more people taking public transportation now.”

Freelance IT developer, Ijon Tan, 24 who takes the LRT every week, hopes the authorities will look into “last-mile” connectivity.

“To me, public transport is still incomplete, especially for the last mile as buses that connect to the train stations are not enough or do not exist,” he said.

In the near term, ridership is expected to increase further following the completion of remedial work in late February to several piers of the Ampang line near the Bandaraya station in Kuala Lumpur.

This short section involving six stations along the line was suspended in April last year to allow for repair work to take place after at least one pillar sustained some damage.

More good news should come by March 2025, when Phase One of the Shah Alam LRT (formerly known as the Bandar Utama-Johan Setia Line) opens for service.

This line allows those in the Klang and in Shah Alam to have an option of getting onto the train to join the Kajang MRT or the Kelana Jaya LRT to head towards Kuala Lumpur and vice versa.