Prasarana Malaysia will be procuring 300 new vans for its Demand Responsive Transit (DRT) service to further improve first- and last-mile connectivity for its public transport network, The Star has reported.
“The decision to increase the number of Rapid DRT vans came following positive feedback from users after the service was first launched last year. The first batch of vans will begin arriving in December. All 300 are expected to be delivered by July next year,” said Prasarana Malaysia president and group CEO Mohd Azharuddin Mat Sah.
As of July 31 this year, 126,656 consumers have used the DRT service, and there are nine corridors in the Klang Valley currently served by Rapid DRT, while one route is being served in Penang with 20 vans currently in service, with the number of routes to be increased gradually as the new vans arrive in stages, Mohd Azharuddin said.
The service will also be grown to reach areas currently without rail or bus services, and Kuala Kubu Baharu in Selangor will be one of the locations to receive the DRT service by next year. Each ride of the DRT van service will cost RM1, and this is also applicable to the RM50 unlimited travel monthly pass, he added.
Payment for this mode of travel can be made with Touch ‘n Go cards, while work is also underway for an open payment system to accept the use of debit and credit cards.
Rapid DRT functions like an e-hailing service, said Rapid Bus CEO Muhammad Yazurin Sallij Muhammad Yasin. In terms of service timing, the company has conducted studies that have found the average waiting time to be less than five minutes, and the vans would pick up passengers directly from their booking destinations with a service radius of around 2 km.
Separately, the Selangor state government also conducted its DRT pilot project from November 22 last year, and concluded at the end of July. This was conducted in eight zones in the state for the purpose of data collection on riders and usage trends, and the state’s two DRT service providers are Badan Bas Coach and Asia Mobility Technologies.
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300? do they have that many drivers?