Service type Public bus Fleet 406 Website Rapid Penang Founded 2007 | Routes 56 Annual ridership 30,309,000 (2014) Headquarters George Town Parent organization Rapid KL | |
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Service area Greater Penang, Malaysia
Penang
Kedah:
Sungai Petani
Perak:
Parit Buntar Motto The Preferred Public Transportation Profiles | ||
Rapid penang corporate video 2010 2011
Rapid Penang (styled as rapidPenang) is a public bus brand in the State of Penang, Malaysia. Formed as a subsidiary of Prasarana Malaysia in 2007, to date it is the main public transport operator within Penang; its bus network serves commuters within Greater Penang, including the neighbouring towns in Kedah and Perak.
Contents
- Rapid penang corporate video 2010 2011
- Rapid penang corporate video
- History
- Routes
- Fares
- Fleet
- Rapid ICIS
- References
Rapid Penang was the second public transportation firm established by Prasarana Malaysia, a corporate body owned by the Malaysian federal government to manage urban public transportation. The first was Rapid KL in 2004, which now encompasses public bus, LRT and monorail services within Kuala Lumpur and the greater Klang Valley. Thus, similar to Rapid KL, Rapid Penang's bus fleet is under the management of Rapid Bus Sdn Bhd.
Rapid penang corporate video
History
Originally, the public bus service in Penang were fragmented and disorganised, with several local public bus operators facing financial difficulties and showing signs of collapse. This situation reached a critical point when the Yellow Bus Company, one of the largest public bus operators in Penang with a 58-year history, suddenly ceased operations in 2004, leaving thousands of commuters stranded.
The Penang state government at the time under the then Chief Minister, Koh Tsu Koon attempted to revamp the state's ailing bus network. Under the revamped routes that were launched in 2006, bigger buses were made to run along trunk routes while minibuses ran feeder routes which branched off the trunk routes. The revamp, however, failed to improve the situation, leading the Penang state government to study the revamp already conducted in Kuala Lumpur and request for federal intervention. It was felt that bringing in Rapid KL, which already had the expertise and know-how, was the better solution than simply purchasing more buses, although Rapid KL at the time chose to focus on its core operations in the Klang Valley.
In 2007, Koh announced that the federal government agreed to operate a bus service in the state. Prasarana Malaysia, which until then had been running Rapid KL services within the Klang Valley, was appointed to implement a similar system for Penang, as well as to handle the procurement of the required assets. To this end, Prasarana set up Rapid Penang, which was registered under Malaysia's Ministry of Finance. Rapid Penang formally commenced operations on 31 July 2007.
Initially, the remaining local public bus operators were allowed to resume their operations to complement Rapid Penang. However, since then, these local companies have ceased operations. With the exception of Cityliner, which still operates only a handful of routes within Seberang Perai (mainland halve of Penang), Rapid Penang has become the main public bus provider in the state.
Routes
As of 2016, Rapid Penang has a total of 56 routes throughout Greater Penang, which also includes routes into neighbouring Kedah and Perak. These routes also include the free-of-charge services within George Town's UNESCO World Heritage Site and its Pulau Tikus suburb.
30 of these routes are within Penang Island, while 19 are within Seberang Perai, the mainland halve of Penang. Rapid Penang also operates three cross-strait routes between Bayan Lepas on Penang Island and Seberang Perai, also known as BEST (Bridge Express Shuttle Transit) routes, catering specifically to factory workers who commute daily to the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone. In addition, Rapid Penang has four cross-border interstate routes from within Seberang Perai into Kedah and Perak.
The routes as of 2016 are as categorised below.
Fares
A new fare structure took place beginning August 2009 in line with the government's announcement to improve the delivery system of public transportation services. However, it was heavily criticised by Penang DAP Socialist Youth (Dapsy) secretary Ng Wei Aik who hit out at Rapid Penang for insisting on a price hike when the service provided was not up to mark.
Note fares: Certain Malaysian nationals like senior citizen, OKU (physically disabled) and school children wearing uniform are eligible for concession fare.
Fleet
The Rapid Penang fleet currently consists of 470 buses.
Rapid ICIS
The Rapid ICIS, Short for Rapid Penang Intelligent Commuter Information System. Launched in the early 2010, the facilities provides commuters with live information of bus arrival time anywhere via phone call. The ICIS centre also serves as the integrated command centre of bus operation. The current Hi-tech ICIS centre is located at Rapid Penang Headquarters.
The Rapid ICIS also enables commuters to locate their bus arrival time via two other methods: