EXTENSION OF DEDICATED BUS LANE IN JALAN AMPANG CAN SAVE 30 MINUTES OF TRAVEL TIME - RAPID BUS

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 17 (Bernama) -- The opening of the one-kilometre (km) extended dedicated bus lane along Jalan Ampang here from today will save up to 30 minutes of travelling time from the Pandan Indah Hub to the City Centre.

Rapid Bus Development and Infrastructure chief Zainurul Hakim said that with the extended dedicated bus lane, which is done in collaboration with the Public Works Department (JKR) of Selangor, the entire length of the dedicated bus lane is now 4km.

"During the first phase (July 3, 2023), the 3km-long dedicated bus lane saved travelling time of between 18 to 20 minutes from the Pandan Indah Hub to the City Centre, thus cutting short a trip which previously took 67 minutes to 47 minutes.

bootstrap slideshow

"We expect the 1km extension of the dedicated bus lane will save a further 10 minutes so that the whole journey will take just 37 minutes. At the same time, we expect the bus frequency to be more consistent along the 4km dedicated bus lane,” he said at a media conference today.

The trial run for the extended dedicated bus lane, he said, involves Section A, namely the entrance to the Ampang-Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway (AKLEH) up to the Jalan Mamanda 1 intersection and connecting with the existing Jalan Ampang bus lane.

Section B, meanwhile, is from the Bandar Baru Ampang/Jalan Wawasan Ampang Intersection bus stop until the exit to the Sungai Besi-Ulu Kelang Elevated Expressway (SUKE).

"Since the implementation under phase one, there has been an increase in daily ridership. Previously, it was 12,800 passengers and this has risen to 14,500 passengers based on the latest (data),” he said, adding that he expects the ridership to reach 20,000 following the extension of the dedicated bus lane.

He said Rapid Bus and JKR will continue to assess the situation for the next three months, especially on the travelling time and congestion at the sections involved.

He added that the two main routes of the bus service that will benefit from this initiative are Route 300 (Pandan Indah Hub-Lebuh Ampang) and Route 303 (Mulia Jaya Bus Stop-Lebuh Ampang) as well as several feeder bus routes around Pandan Indah, Bukit Indah, Mulia Jaya and Lembah Jaya.

"We will have 33 buses for route 300 from the Pandan Indah Hub to the City Centre and also for route 303 from Mulia Jaya to the City Centre. Route 300 has the highest ridership, with a frequency of three minutes,” he said.

During this period, the dedicated bus lanes will be in operation from 6 am to 9 am on weekdays only.

-- BERNAMA