PETALING JAYA: The Transport Ministry has today reiterated that the daily operational hours for public transport are from 6am to 10am and 5pm to 10pm nationwide. These hours will take effect from tomorrow until the movement control order (MCO) is lifted.
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong said affected land public transport modes include stage buses, free buses like GoKL and Smart Selangor, all feeder buses, as well as rail services such as LRT, MRT, Monorail, ERL and KTMB.
“The ministry is aware that these modes of public transport are widely used by many, especially those in the B40 group.
“The decision was difficult to make but had to be done to ensure the efficacy of the MCO aimed at breaking the Covid-19 pandemic via prevention of assemblies including at public transport hubs, stops, stations and terminals,” he said in a statement today.
Wee explained that the new operational hours were enforced following reports showing a decrease in the percentage of passengers using public transport since the MCO came into effect on March 18.
“Stage buses, free buses and feeder buses - all have dropped in passenger count by 91.63%.
“On March 16, all modes of transportation recorded a total of 233,500 passengers, while on March 22, this figure plunged drastically to only 19,540 passengers due to the MCO,” he highlighted.
Likewise, KTM Komuter figures also recorded a decrease in passenger load by 89.25% from March 18 to March 22, as well as Rapid Rail (LRT, MRT and Monorail services) which reported a huge drop in passenger load by 95.09%, from 578,716 passengers on March 16 to only 28,409 passengers on March 20.
However, Wee pointed out that taxi and e-hailing services may continue to operate as usual, in accordance with the predefined guidelines and bus services in the peninsular are still in operation, but with limited access aimed only to provide transport for individuals in the essential services sector.
Although Wee pointed out that the ministry has not given a directive to operators of express buses, but highlighted the sharp drop in demand.
He assured that the ministry is working with all state governments in monitoring the latest developments at terminals and on roads, and further changes.
