Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin expressed confidence that the public transport system in Kuala Lumpur can be integrated within a year.   

Muhyiddin said the transformation of the public transport system had started last year with bus, train and rail services being revamped to provide efficient service to the people in the Klang valley.

"Last year there was a 17 percent increase in ridership using public transport, surpassing the 15 percent targetted, while 2.4 million used the Light Rail Transport (LRT) and KTM Komuter services throughout last year," said Muhyiddin after a 'walkabout' in the city to check out the efficiency of the public transport system today.

Muhyiddin who was accompanied by Transport Minister Kong Cho Ha started the walkabout by taking a ride on a RapidKL bus from Menara UOA in Jalan Semantan at 10am and arrived at KL Sentral before boarding a Putra LRT to Masjid Jamek and then switched to the Star LRT to check out the Bandaraya station.

Room for improvement

The deputy prime minister said under the National Key Results Area (NKRA), the government has targetted an increase in the usage of public transport and expressed confidence of achieving the 25 percent aspired, by 2012.

"An efficient transport system is important for those using public transport and it must an integrated system so that passengers can have an uninterrupted ride.

"During my visit I noticed that there are efforts to ensure a continuous ride from one station to another. Based on my brief experience today, I feel the transport system is efficient," he said.

"However, there is plenty of room for improvement, especially pricing of tickets. But with increased users, I hope the rates can be reasonable like what has been implemented in cities like London, Melbourne and Sydney," he said.

- Bernama