Guaranteed Seats in Public Buses

Going to Putrajaya, the Federal Administrative Capital which houses majority of the government agencies, is quite smooth nowadays.

You can get there by cars, bikes, bicycles (if safe), public buses, taxis and also the high speed ERL train.

The public buses serving Putrajaya area is currently operated by Nadi Putra, owned by Pengangkutan Awam Putrajaya Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Putrajaya Corporation, of which is a government agency under the Ministry of Federal Territories.

Just back in June 2008 after the ridiculous petrol price hike, Putrajaya Corporation was of the view that many people would be opting for public transportation to cut down cost of living.

They estimated that 9,300 passengers are hopping into their buses daily and believed that it would grow tremendously. At that point of time, there were 55 buses already. With 9,300 passengers and 55 buses plying the routes, the ratio is 169 passengers per bus per day. A bus could fit in 40 passengers and that works out to be 4 bus loads of people per day. You are definitely guaranteed a seat in a public bus for sure.

That was in June 2008. Six months down the road in December 2008, there are 70 buses now and say there was an increase of 10% bus passengers which works out to 10,230 passengers daily.

With 10,230 passengers and 70 buses plying the routes, the ratio is 146 passengers per bus per day. That is less than 4 bus loads of people per day. Some passengers could even lie down and sleep.

But the Ministry of Federal Territories thinks that you are not comfortable enough and they are very thoughtful of you.

They think that the ratio of passenger per bus should be even much lower. In order to achieve a much lower ratio, they have decided to purchase another 104 buses at a cost of RM70 million (RM673,076 per bus) over the next two years. 70 buses plus 104 buses = 174 buses.

Say another increase of 10% bus passengers which will have 11,253 passengers daily. With 174 buses plying the routes, the ratio will be down to 65 passengers per bus per day. You only require 1.5 buses to fit the 65 passengers per day.

Even though Nadi Putra is making a loss of RM1 million per annum, the passengers' comfort is their highest concern of all. Well done! This is what I call priority customer service. You won't find it anywhere in the world.

Reading: Not enough passenger volume - Star
Tags: Public Bus, Putrajaya, Federal Administrative Capital, Nadi Putra, Pengangkutan Awam Putrajaya Sdn Bhd, Putrajaya Corporation, Ministry of Federal Territories