The Renovated Puduraya Bus Station

The renovated Puduraya bus station will reopen on Feb 2. The total cost of renovation is 52  Million Ringgit. The Puduraya bus station started operation since 1976.

Passengers travelling North-Bound will have to go to the Puduraya bus station to catch a bus whereas passengers traveling South-Bound will have to go to the Terminal Bersepadu Selatan - Bandar Tasik Selatan.

The station was closed since April 2010 to uplift the operating condition of the facility.

Among the new features of the facility are as follows:

1) Fully air-conditioned passengers waiting area located at the ground floor. Passengers will be relieved since they don't have to inhale toxic bus emission as before.
2) Two escalators heading to the basement where buses are parked and one travellator from a new main entrance to the ground floor.
3) Two passenger lifts from the main entrance and four escalators to the second floor.
4) Ticket counters located on the first floor.
5) A prayer room (a surau) located on the second floor
6) Food court located on the fourth floor.
7) CCTV cameras are installed for passengers safety.

The reopening of the renovated Puduraya Bus station is eagerly waited by bus users. However, there are yet several other issues that need further attentions such as congestion issues due to inbound and outbound bus movements in the CBD area. Also, there is no indication on how the touts problems will be resolved. Hopefully, the Puduraya Bus Station management will put in place the preventive maintenance strategies to prevent the newly renovated facility from becoming run down again.

Read HERE for more info.

Latest Bus Stop Design

What is so latest about the design of this bus stop? Except the bench, other aspect of the bus stop seems to be a new concept i.e. steel frame structure, roofing material and glass panel of this bus stop is so different from other bus stops that I had seen in the area. There also seem to be decent lighting for the bus stop which I haven't checked yet during the night whether the lighting is operational or only a gimmick.

The roofing and glass panel is very good design to give shelter to bus users from shearing tropical heat and also from tropical rain.

However, one important item that is still missing at the bus stop, i.e. information about bus route and bus time-table. Hopefully, one day (I am not sure when yet) the information about bus routes, arrival and departure time will be made available at all bus stops around here.

Another National Headline

11 fatalities due to accident involving 2 express buses, a van and three cars at Km 223, Plus Highway near the Simpang Ampat toll in Negri Sembilan tonight.

Read more HERE.

There seems not much improvement in the safety aspect of express busses.

Another ITT

Malaysia will have another Integrated Transport Terminal (ITT) soon as published in the news recently. The ITT will be located in Gombak just near the Putra LRT Terminal in Gombak.

The terminal is expected to be in operation early next year and the terminal will cater for Northbound and Eastbound buses. The operations of these buses in Gombak ITT will help reducing traffic congestion in the city center.

Hopefully the Gombak ITT will be built as planned and hopefully, all of the user friendliness about the facility could be materialized next year.

However, hopefully the relevant authority will not forget about interconnectivity such as the mobility of passengers from the ITT to other locations within the area.

Good Start for the Public Transport Service

RapidBET or Rapid Bus Express Transit system is a newly introduced public transport system in the Klang Valley. RapidBET is the first of the implementations carried out by the urban public transport laboratory under the National Key Result Areas (NKRAs). There are two routes for RapidBET, i.e. RapidBET1 from Kota Damansara to Pasar Seni via the Penchala and Kerinchi Links, and RapidBET2 from Bandar Sungai Long to Pasar Seni via the Grand Saga Highway.

Buses plying the RapidBET route uses less congested highways to link heavily populated areas and the city centre, allowing travel time to be cut by half.

It has limited stops and gets to its final destination in half the time of regular buses.

RapidBET1: Kota Damansara - Pasar Seni Route

Rumah Flat sec 8 - Jalan Pekaka 8/1

Flat Cempaka - Jalan Cecawi 6/19

Flat Teratai - Jln Cecawi 6

Flat Siantan - Jln Sepah Puteri 5/1

Gugusan Semarak - Jln Camar 4/5

Gugusan Melati/Mawar - Jln Camar 4/5

Palm Spring - Persiaran Spring

Pelangi - Persiaran Surian

Pelangi - Persiaran Surian

IKEA - Persiaran Surian

Mid Valley - Jln Syed Putra

SRJKC Kwan Cheng - Jln Syed Putra

Pasar Seni - Jln Sultan Mohamed

RapidBET2: Bandar Sungai Long - Pasar Seni Route

UTAR, Jln Sg Long

TM Batu 10, Jln Grand Saga

Plaza Phoenix, Jln Cheras

Jejantaaas, Taman Segar

Taman Midah

Fajar/Wisma SEA, Jln Sg Besi

Majestic, Jln Pudu

Penjara Pudu, Jln Pudu

Swiss Garden, Jln Pudu

Kota Raya, Jln Tun Tan Cheng Lock

Pasar Seni - Jln Sultan Mohamed

It runs at 15-minute intervals during peak hours from 6.30am to 7.15am and from 6pm to 6.45pm, and cost the same as regular buses.

Tourists Attraction

In Malaysia, double decker buses are gaining popularity among the tourists to tour the city areas especially in Kuala Lumpur and recently in Malacca. As reported, Malacca is in the process of acquiring several more double decker buses, both air-conditioned and roof-less.

Personally, I enjoyed using the double decker buses because it give me the opportunity to scan through the city for any interesting places which can be visited later.

Express Bus Accident

Again, another incident of express bus accident at KM27.7 of Kulai-JB highway heading to Johor Baru. The bus carry 10 passengers fell into ravine causing two dead and two others severely injured.

The accident rate involving buses is very high given the small number of buses on the road as compared to passenger vehicles.

At another location, an accident involving a school bus packed with school children and a factory bus. Luckily there is no injuries reported.