KUALA LUMPUR, April 19 — The Land Public Transport Agency (APAD) has issued permits for an additional 256 buses to operate during the Aidilfitri period to meet the demand for ‘balik kampung’ tickets, said Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook.
He said the additional buses this year, approved under the Temporary Conversion Licence for Festivals scheme, were 1.5 times the figure for 2022.
“This increase in consumer demand is a sign of economic recovery, especially in the public transport sector, after the country entered the transition to endemic phase on April 1, 2022,” he told reporters during a working visit to Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS) here today.
Loke said the additional buses had been checked to ensure they met the criteria set by various authorities, including the Computerised Vehicle Inspection Centre (Puspakom).
On TBS, he said the operator had taken measures to cope with the higher passenger traffic between April 18 and 22, including deploying additional staff and opening more ticket counters.
Loke said there were also 24-hour security by the Auxiliary Police Unit, continuous security monitoring through 623 closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, additional personnel to manage traffic and integrated operations with the authorities.
He said TBS had taken the initiative to update the status of tickets and travel schedule via the Consumers Information Display System, TBS website and social media channels like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Loke said travellers who purchased their tickets online could scan their QR code at the Auto Gate Counter (AGC) to reduce congestion at counters and the main entrance of the Departure Hall.
“This is expected to overcome the problem of long queues in the terminal during festive seasons,” he said, adding that as at April 17, several major online ticketing agents (OTA) like GoHub, BusOnlineTicket and RedBus had successfully integrated their systems with TBS in stages.
He said passengers who purchased tickets from OTA would receive the QR code notification together with the GoPass logo and could proceed straight to the Departure Hall to board their buses.
