SHAH ALAM: Residents in eight areas in Selangor, including cities such as Shah Alam and Klang, and suburbs like Selayang and Sepang, will enjoy the services of a community bus soon.
The community bus service will be provided for free or at minimal cost in densely populated areas like it is done in Petaling Jaya.
The effort is being planned in detail by eight local authorities (PBT) in Selangor to encourage residents to use public transport.
Local Government Exco, Datuk Teng Chang Khim said that the State Government is waiting proposals from local authorities to implement the plan in the near future.
“All this will be planned with care before the State Government decides to implement it in municipalities and cities that have comfortable financial standings.
“The Petaling Jaya Municipal Council has started it, but it needs to be more widely publicised and improved.
“Meanwhile, the Shah Alam City Council has obtained sponsorship from the private sector but the entire details have yet to be obtained,” he said when met after the Selangor State Assembly session recently.
According to the Shah Alam City Council Corporate Director, Shahrin Ahmad, the service in Shah Alam is expected to start this year after receiving contributions from corporations.
“The proposed routes for the community bus will pass through densely populated areas, especially for students and factory workers in Sections 2, 18, 17, 19, 24.”
Meanwhile, the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) Public Relations Officer, Zainun Zakaria said that the Petaling Jaya community bus which was launched in August 2008 still runs three times a day as usual.
“It is still operating as usual and travels three times around Petaling Jaya Utara (PJU) and Petaling Jaya Selatan (PJS).”
It runs from 9 am to 5 pm every day from Monday to Friday, except on public holidays.
In PJU, the bus goes through the MBPJ complex, Tesco, the Curve, Ikano, the Section 6 Police Station, the Sunway Square Police Station and the Registration Department in Section 8.
In PJS, the route the bus takes goes through Jalan Sultan, Jalan Selangor, the Petaling Utama flats, Taman Medan, Desa Mentari, the Kampung Lindungan flats, the Taman Desa Ria flats, Jalan Othman and Amcorp Mall.