By Amar Shah Mohsen
SHAH ALAM, Nov 14 — The state government is studying the possibility of discontinuing certain existing Smart Selangor Bus routes in favour of the Demand-Responsive Transit (DRT) service.
State executive councillor for mobility Ng Sze Han said this is to avoid wastage, noting the less than encouraging usage of the state’s free bus service in certain locations.
He added that instructions have also been issued to all local councils to review the Smart Selangor Bus routes to ensure allocations by the state government are fully optimised.
“I agree that there are routes with poor ridership, and that is also why we introduced the DRT service in the first place. We want to review all existing Smart Selangor Bus routes,” he said in the state assembly, here, today.
“There is a possibility in the future, perhaps next year or in 2025, where some existing routes will be replaced with the DRT service to ensure better service to the locals.”
Ng was responding to a question from Sijangkang assemblyman Ahmad Yunus Hairi on whether studies are being conducted on the usage of Smart Selangor Bus service, pointing out the poor ridership in areas like Kuala Langat, which may cause wastage.
Earlier, Ng noted that Selangor’s DRT service will officially commence on November 20, involving four selected locations under the state’s pilot project, namely Puchong, Gombak, Ampang and Subang Jaya.
He explained that the pilot project will last for six months, before the service is expanded to eight other constituencies next year. This, he said, will be subject to public feedback.
To encourage the use of DRT service, Ng said the state government has agreed that users only need to pay RM2 per ride, with the remaining charges to be subsidised.
The DRT service was first launched at the Selangor International Business Summit on October 20.
