According to Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook, the Land Public Transport Agency (APAD) has approved licences for an additional 256 buses to operate over the upcoming Hari Raya period to accommodate the demand for ‘balik kampung’ tickets. The minister stated that this figure, approved under the Temporary Conversion Licence for Festivals scheme, is 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,” said Anthony. He added that the additional buses had been checked to ensure they met the criteria set by authorities such as Puspakom.
Regarding Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS), he said that it had taken measures to handle the high demand by deploying additional staff and operating more ticket counters. The status of tickets and travel schedules are also updated through the Consumers Information Display System, TBS’ website, and its social media channels.
Travellers who purchased tickets online can scan their QR code at the Auto Gate Counter to reduce congestion. The minister revealed that several major online ticketing agents (OTA) such as GoHub, BusOnlineTicket, and RedBus, comprising 80% of online ticket providers, had integrated their systems with TBS.
Last week, the Transport Ministry said it would announce special flight tickets for students of public institutions of higher education (IPTA). This scheme would involve the government subsidising the fares to make them more affordable, but seeing as how nothing has been announced yet for the nearing Raya celebration, it might only be introduced for future festive seasons.
This year, the Transport Ministry had approved 527 additional flights as of 5 April to cope with high demand, which is apparently over 43% more additional flights than in 2022 during the same period. AirAsia claimed that it had already sold over 80% of its additional flights for the period from 19 to 22 April.
(Sources: Bernama, The Vibes)
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