Following the move by Perak Transit Bhd to display its service routes and schedules at bus stops in the city, effective Thursday, July 23, Ipoh Echo sent its team to get feedback from commuters. The team visited two popular stops, one at Kamdar and the other at Medan Kidd.
From our team’s observation, commuters hardly noticed the schedules until we pointed it out to them. Some stared at the schedules with a puzzled look before resorting to asking those around them for explanation.
“If they don’t know how to read it they can ask us,” said a staff at the Medan Kidd bus terminal. “Even though the schedule was only posted yesterday, we’ve been following the routes and schedules religiously. If there are four buses for that particular route, the waiting time would be 20 minutes. If there are three, it would be 30 minutes,” she explained.
The public, however, beg to differ. “All this while we don’t refer to schedules, we just wait and wait. It’s tiring, especially on a hot day. We’re not aware of the schedules at all,” said a housewife who commutes daily from her house in Tanjung Rambutan.
“The bus is always late. Once I’ve to wait over an hour. Right now, I’ve been waiting for more than 30 minutes already. As for the schedules, I can’t read them as the letterings are too small,” said an elderly woman who was waiting for a bus to Gunung Rapat at the Kamdar bus stop.
“It’s normal to wait for more than half an hour,” said a student who too was not aware of the development.
“Buses to Ipoh Jaya, Gunung Rapat and Ampang are the worst. No one waits for these buses anymore because the buses will never come. They only operate in the morning and none after that. As a result, I either cycle or get a lift from friends to go to work because I don’t have my own transport,” complained a very depressed middle-aged woman who has been struggling with the inconvenience for over 20 years.
The displaying of bus routes and schedules by Perak Transit Bhd is commendable but the lingering problem of availability and reliability of buses from other bus companies continues to haunt commuters.
Mei Kuan and Nantini
