Issues faced are replacing and maintaining old buses; retaining current bus captains and attracting new ones; and traffic conditions
by AKMAR ANNUAR / pics MUHD AMIN NAHARUL
PRASARANA’S Rapid Bus Sdn Bhd is actively progressing to address three main issues pertaining to public transport in Kuala Lumpur (KL).
These involve replacing old buses and maintaining them; retaining current bus captains and attracting new ones; and traffic conditions.
Only around 900 out of Rapid Bus’ 1,757 buses are operational, Transport Minister Anthony Loke revealed during a parliament session last month.
Addressing this issue, Rapid Bus CEO Muhammad Yazurin Sallij Muhammad Yasin shared with The Malaysian Reserve (TMR) that 50% of its buses are 10 to 15 years old with expiring permits, requiring them to be replaced soon.
“Bus permits are usually for a maximum of 15 years; hence we are in progress of acquiring new buses from vendors, estimating to complete the tendering process by end of this year.
“We are aiming to have 460 new buses ready to be on the road by 2024,” he said.
Therefore, while waiting for the new buses to arrive, Yazurin said the company will work hard in maintaining the current ones that are up and running after a two-year hiatus due to Movement Control Order (MCO) in 2020.

50% of the buses are 10 to 15 years old, and their permits are expiring, requiring them to be replaced soon
Optimistic that they are on the right track, he disclosed that by the end of June 2023, the number of buses in operation increased to slightly over 960.
Yazurin also mentioned that there will be smaller-sized buses to be added to the fleet, akin to the iconic minibuses, which were popular in the 1970s until the late 1990s.
He also highlighted that Rapid Bus is working very hard to increase the confidence of commuters by making these buses more reliable, stressing that the process would take a longer time to be completed.
“Another critical concern is the high turn-over rate of bus captains, with over 500 out of 1,000 drivers resigning each month,” Yazurin told TMR.
Adding that this has created a “vicious” cycle, he said this has led to further resentment among the drivers as they had to cover more hours, with less resting time. Consequently, they will follow the steps of their former colleagues and eventually resign, too.
Additionally, Yazurin said due to lack of manpower, the bus captains often felt that their career progress was stagnant and there was not enough time to go for upskilling programmes.
“Another thing that these bus captains were unhappy about was the salary package that was offered to them,” he added.
Understanding this, Rapid Bus had come up with a better salary package and higher allowance.
As of May 2023, the management has approved a bigger budget for bus captains, with a bigger ratio of 2.3, as compared to 2.1 previously, enabling them to have more resting time and they are now able to go for further training.
On top of that, bus captains’ salary package has been increased as well, from an average of RM2,500 to RM3,300 per month. Yazurin said this has shown a significant improvement in recruitment, as the latest package has attracted roughly 200 new bus captains and the attrition rate has gone down to 5% from 9%.
The Rapid Bus team is also working on creating more modules for its academy, further elevating the status of bus captains. “We want to retain the bus captains by
providing them more opportunities and teaching them more skills, creating a clearer path to their career growth,” Yazurin added.
The third critical issue which they are facing post-pandemic is in infrastructure, specifically the bus lanes to accommodate the current alarming traffic condition.

Rapid Bus has increased bus captains’ salary package, from an average of RM2,500 to RM3,300 per month (Source: Rapid KL’s Facebook)
Based on the current traffic report, there were 4.5 million cars on the road going into the city pre-pandemic versus 6 million cars post-pandemic.
As more vehicles are on the road and creating further congestion in the city, Rapid KL continued their collaboration with the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) in creating more bus lanes.
Sharing that DBKL has been enforcing bus lanes in the city for quite some time and it has worked wonders in curbing traffic jams pre-pandemic days, Yazurin said Rapid Bus has stepped up cooperation with the Transport Ministry (MoT).
He said to put a stop to private vehicles encroaching into bus lanes, closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) have been installed to ensure that bus lanes are not obstructed.
With bus lanes flowing faster, it will encourage people to take public transport. DBKL will also improve the visibility of the lanes by marking them in a brighter colour.
Meanwhile, the implementation of the Jalan Ampang bus lane, which was launched last month, has shown positive results through a 10% increase of ridership in the first two weeks of July.
The target for bus routes on Jalan Ampang ridership is 30,000 to 40,000 passengers.

The company does its best in maintaining the current buses while awaiting the arrival of the new buses
“This bus lane has shortened travel times to hot spots such as Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Jalan Raja Laut and Jalan Pahang by roughly 10 minutes,” Muhammad Yazurin Sallij said.
Moreover, there are also plans underway to extend the dedicated bus lane to serve evening peak hours from 5pm to 7pm, as well as to enhance passenger’s experience by introducing more bus lanes in Klang Valley.
“If we can achieve our target bus rider-ship, our objective of reducing traffic congestion will be met,” said Muhammad Yazurin Sallij.
The company is also exploring the Demand Responsive Transit (DRT) concept for more feeder bus routes.
This initiative will be a collaboration between Rapid Bus and technology providers, as DRT requires passengers to book for the service via an app.
A van will pick them up from designated spots of their choice, which can either be an actual bus stop or a virtual bus stop. This concept aims to reduce waiting times to an average of eight minutes.
“We need to evolve as part of the changing market and demand that we have now. This DRT concept will be expanded further to other routes in the near future,” he concluded.
- This article first appeared in The Malaysian Reserve weekly print edition
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