MP calls for monthly public transportation pass

PETALING JAYA: DAP MP Ong Kian Ming today called for the introduction of a monthly public transportation pass to increase the usage of public transport facilities such as the LRT and MRT.

He said this would significantly boost ridership figures, adding that Rapid KL used to have a RM150 monthly travel pass for the LRT, which was eliminated as part of the LRT fare hike in December 2015.

Although LRT and MRT ridership had spiked in July and August last year, Ong said this had been due to the half-price fares offered at the time.

Citing statistics from the transport ministry, he said the Sungai Buloh-Kajang MRT line had reached a peak daily ridership of 135,112 in August when fares were 50%.

“But once the fare discount period was over, the daily ridership dropped to 103,345, which is significantly less than the target of 150,000.

“Similarly, the daily ridership for the Kelana Jaya and Ampang LRT lines spiked up to 262,606 and 195,536 respectively in the month of August, but once the discount period was over, the daily ridership numbers fell to 219,568 and 157,533 for the Kelana Jaya and Ampang LRT lines respectively,” he said in a statement.

LRT ridership numbers for September were even lower than those for March, which averaged 238,602 and 169,057 for the Kelana Jaya and Ampang LRT lines respectively, he added.

The Serdang MP said the drop in daily ridership on the LRT and MRT clearly showed that passengers were price sensitive.

“This is why it is necessary to introduce an affordable monthly public transportation pass to allow passengers to have unlimited rides on the LRT, MRT, Monorail and Rapid KL buses as a way to increase public transportation usage,” he said.

Ong added that Pakatan Harapan had proposed in its alternative budget the introduction of a RM100 unlimited travel monthly public transportation pass.

“I am confident that with the introduction of this pass, public transportation usage especially on the LRT, MRT and Rapid buses will increase significantly, perhaps even beyond the daily ridership figures set in August 2017 when the LRT and MRT fares were reduced by 50%.” -FMT