Prasarana's Average Daily Ridership Expected To Grow By 21%

Prasarana Malaysia Bhd's bus and rail line average daily ridership in the Klang Valley is gradually returning to its pre-pandemic level, with a 21% increase to 1.19 million ridership anticipated this year after reaching 982,000 in 2023, NST reported.

The average daily ridership increased by 44% to 982,000 last year from 680,000 in 2022. In comparison, the average daily ridership prior to the pandemic was 1.24 million in 2019.

According to Transport Minister Anthony Loke, before the pandemic, Rapid Rail's average daily ridership was 790,000 for the MRT, LRT, and Monorail in the Klang Valley. By the end of 2023, however, that number had risen to 800,000.

Overall, 741,000 people rode Rapid Rail on a daily average in 2023, while 241,000 people rode Rapid Bus. Loke also stated that the average daily ridership for Rapid Rail registered in the first half of 2023 (1H23) was 680,000 before increasing to 800,000 in 2H23.

As part of its plans to increase ridership and guarantee smooth travel for commuters, Prasarana will gradually switch to electric buses and introduce an open payment system.

In an effort to promote environmentally friendly transportation, all new buses purchased in 2019 will be electric buses.By the first quarter of 2025, Prasarana hopes to deliver its last batch of 310 diesel-fueled buses.

The minister also emphasized another noteworthy accomplishment of Prasarana from the previous year: a decrease in the number of rail line failures, specifically on the monorail line, the MRT's Kelana Jaya line, Ampang line, and Kajang line.
"In 2022, the Kelana Jaya line, which has the most number of users, had 49 failures. The most prominent issue we had in that year was when 16 stations were not able to operate for seven days," Loke said.
In order to facilitate repairs, 16 stations along the LRT Kelana Jaya line were closed from November 9 to November 15, 2022. Failures at the Kelana Jaya line decreased to 36 in 2023 and are expected to further improve to 28 this year.

Failures decreased to 100 overall in 2023 from 252 in 2022. By 2024, Prasarana hopes to reduce the number of failures across all four rail lines to just 65.