After auditing KTM stations, transit proponent sets sights on Selangor buses

KUALA LUMPUR, July 10 — A transit advocate, whose informal audit recently put KTM Komuter stations under scrutiny, has embarked on another survey — this time on buses in Selangor.

The X (formerly Twitter) user @slainthayer said he spent over 12 hours on buses last weekend, riding from the Selangor’s north-westernmost bus stop at Sabak Bernam to the Pekan Beranang bus stop.

He then criticised the mandatory QR code used for boarding Smart Selangor buses, saying this was slow, unreliable, and wholly unnecessary.

“It’s a TERRIBLE system, for both the drivers and the passengers. And it shows: 8 out of 10 times I didn’t even scan this,” he wrote on X on Monday.

Speaking to Malay Mail, the public transport advocate said the system was problematic as it meant children and senior citizens must have smartphones to use the buses, and other users might not be able to board if their devices were to run out of battery.

Boarding would be far quicker if the buses were to use a “tap-to-pay” system or even if a conductor were to collect fares on the spot, he said.

He noted that some bus drivers have resorted to letting Malaysians board without scanning and make foreigners pay the fare in cash before getting on.

“No other buses in the country use QR. Not even GoKL or free buses in Johor. And certainly not (the buses in) Singapore or Thailand,” he said.

He then highlighted the two-hour intervals between Smart Selangor buses he encountered, saying this was a major burden for commuters.

“The Causeway Link’s P701 Klang-KL route was supposed to run every 30-60 minutes, but it did not during my ride.

“The Wawasan Sutera buses for the 700 and 710 routes were not running at all.”

He questioned how it was that Malaysia’s richest and most industrialised state could not at least match MyBas Seremban’s frequency of between 30 and 60 minutes.

Aside from the buses, he said stations in Selangor also lacked facilities.

“At the Klang bus station, passengers also had to wait on the sidewalks of a store without proper shelter, enduring smog from idling buses without enough information on the next bus.

“When the bus finally arrived, it stopped 500 metres away from the station,” he said.

However, he noted that only three bus lines he boarded during the informal survey were under Smart Selangor: SB01 (Sekinchan to Sabak Bernam), SB02 (Politeknik Sultan Idris Shah to SK Parit Baru) and KS01 (Kuala Selangor to Tanjung Karang).

During the survey, he also rode buses operated by Rapid KL from Kuala Lumpur to Beranang, which he said were mostly on time according to the schedule available on the company’s PULSE mobile app.

However, he called on Smart Selangor and Rapid KL to make the schedules physically available at the bus stations and to install ramps leading to bus platforms to make them more accessible to persons with disabilities (PwDs).

Previously, @slainthayer personally inspected facilities in all 59 KTM Komuter stations and found some with malfunctioning facilities, prompting quick remedial action from operated KTM Berhad as well as the Railway Assets Corporation (RAC), the owner of KTM Komuter stations

Recommended reading:

• How bad are our KTM stations? One public transport advocate visits 59 to find out

• KTMB was called out over busted escalators, lifts, toilets at stations. Here’s its response

• KTM stations’ owner vows to fix faults, but says ‘huge process’ will take time