I've got to warn you, this post is a long one.

To commemorate the launch of LRT Extension from Kelana Jaya and Sri Petaling to Putra Heights, let's talk about it.

As has been announced on 2nd November 2015, Prasarana restructured fare for monorail and LRT effective 2nd December 2015 where the fares are based on distance of the journey from a station to another as they claimed that it is used in other countries. Looking at the fares table they also integrated Sunway BRT.


Types of fares that they are offering is token, cashless, weekly 7-days pass and 30-days monthly pass plus not to forget concession for OKU, senior citizen and students. Let's say I need to go KLCC from my home. USJ21 [KJ34] to KLCC [KJ10], each of the single journey fare will be RM4.20, RM3.70, RM3.40, RM3.10 and RM2.10. Obviously they encourage you to buy passes to save more. Looking at this I am pleased that students are able to save 50% of fares. For working class they really need to consider buying weekly or monthly pass to save. Every time passengers enter and exit the ride, they charges passengers. LRT, BRT and Monorail are integrated together but not bus.

I've been in the UK for almost a year and traveled around Europe. I am grateful to get a chance to observe their public transport here. To compare, let's include London, Lyon, Amsterdam and Oslo's public transportation network.


In London they have Transport for London which is part of Greater London Authority. It manages underground, overground, buses, trams, ferry and taxis. In terms of passes they offer a lot lot lot lot types of passes. From single ride to railcards to student to job seekers to senior citizens. The one I have right now is regular Oyster Card. It's like a Touch n Go card in Malaysia. Amount of money must be loaded in this card - like a prepaid card. It is a must have card because you can save by traveling with this card. Can be used on trains and buses. A very convenient pass but for fares it is different from one zone to another.
In Oslo public transport is being run by municipality-owned Ruter. It operates metro, tram, bus and ferry. They have a lot of types of fares - single tickets, 24 hours ticket, 7 days ticket, 30 days ticket, 365 ticket, supplementary ticket for additional zones, Rufus (kindergarten) ticket and Oslo pass for tourist and alike with free entrance to museums. It is not a prepaid pass. What I like about this is people can plan their expenses on public transport and it is really convenient since all the Ruter-owned metro, tram, bus and ferry fares are integrated together so you don't need to pay a lot more for each service. Just need to select type of pass, hop onto any service and enjoy your ride. You can check more info here https://ruter.no/en/buying-tickets/tickets-and-fares/ 


In Lyon there is metro, bus and tram network, second largest transport network in France after Paris. It has single ride, one day ride, unlimited night time ride and others. Their fare is simple. Just buy the pass and you don't need to have prepaid amount in the ticket because that's what you paid for. Just use it until the period is over!


In Amsterdam just like others above it operates train, tram, metro, bus and ferry. They offer number of passes such as 1, 24, 42, 72 hours pass, daily, weekly pass, season tickets, etc. There's a lot of them. When I was in Amsterdam I bought 24 hours pass, so I can use all public transport in 24 hours after validation. Meaning I validated the pass at 1.00pm so I can use it until 1.00pm at next day. This is convenient. The one pass that similar to Rapid KL is e-purse, which they charge by distance, but I don't think not many people use it.

One disadvantage to point - the thing with rail network in Europe, they trust passengers to buy the ticket and validate. There will be random check inside of the train. There's a time I rode a train, no one is checking the ticket. If I didn't buy the ticket I can get away with it. This can be seen with KTM in Klang Valley. If you get caught by the conductors, you need to pay a hefty amount of fine.

To conclude, comparing Rapid KL fare system to these 4 different public transport companies, we can see differences in terms of charges and use of pass. These European companies charge fares as you pay rather than charges after every ride - like a prepaid card. By doing this passengers can take advantage of using public transport a lot of times in certain period. Besides they can use different types of transport with same fare, for example in 24 hours. In case of Rapid KL it integrate into one line until you tap card at the exit point, but you have to pay again if you want to ride at different time in 24 hours.

So I do think that Rapid KL could do more in providing more flexible ticketing and fare system in the future. Maybe whenever MRT is operating soon?

p/s: Dear Prasarana, if by chance you are reading this post, your website http://www.myrapid.com.my is so slow...