by AFIQ AZIZ / pic by ARIF KARTONO

KERETAPI Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB) has partnered e-hailing provider Platform Apps Sdn Bhd, or MyCar, to furnish better connectivity in terms of first- and last-mile solutions for its passengers.

MyCar COO Mohd Shafiq Affendi Mohd Abd Rahman (left) said through the service, MyCar users who commute to and from 53 KTMB stations in the peninsula will be entitled to rebate from RM2 with booking via the app.

“Cooperation between the two parties will be able to provide great benefits and opportunities through KTMB’s extensive network coverage, namely from the Northern, Central, Southern and East Coast of Malaysia.

“Through this collaboration, the MyCar service will indirectly complement the passenger’s travel experience until they arrive at their destination,” he said at a press conference after signing the memorandum of understanding with KTMB in Kuala Lumpur (KL) yesterday.

As of now, he said, MyCar has a total of 60,000 registered drivers in Peninsular Malaysia. The rebate, Shafiq said, will be borne by the application provider and it would not affect the driver’s earnings.

“We hope the initiative will also spur our e-hailing market,” he added.

KTMB COO Mohd Zain Mat Taha (right) said first and last-mile connectivity remains an important element to boost the public transport usage, especially in the Klang Valley area.

“Although our services are quite holistic demographically, the first and last-mile connectivity is still an issue and we need help for that.

“Previously, we do have bus feeders from the state and other services like taxi and rental cars. Now, we need to look for more mobility to connect the passengers, so they will have a seamless journey from one point to the final destination,” he said.

According to figures, the public transport usage in Selangor and KL stood slightly more than 20%, attributed to the issue of inconvenience of services and poor connectivity from each point, among others.

The government has set a target to achieve 40% of public transport ridership by 2030.

Due to the Covid-19 crisis and Movement Control Order, Md Zain said KTMB in general saw a drop of 40% from its ridership.

Md Zain said KTMB expects the cooperation with MyCar to motivate more commuters to use its train services.