Prasarana Malaysia Bhd is revising its fare structures for LRT and Monorail services in and around Kuala Lumpur, with most commuters expected to experience an increase in fares.

The distance-based fare structure, effective Dec 2, is necessary to streamline the disparate fare structures used across the three rail lines that Prasarana operates, its chief executive officer Azmi Abdul Aziz today.

“The revision is due to the fact that we need to normalise the fare structure from where it is today, which is inconsistent and inequitable, to migrate towards a more consistent and more robust formula,” Azmi said.

The new fare structure will also introduce discounts for cashless transactions using Touch 'n Go and myRapid cards, and a new system for weekly and monthly passes.

Azmi ( photo ) said that using the Smart 30 monthly passes that would enjoy the most discounts, 79 percent of commuters are expected to see a fare increase.

Meanwhile, 13 percent of commuters will see a decrease in fares, while eight percent will have no change.

To a question, Azmi denied that the fare revision had anything to do with the losses incurred in running Prasarana’s rail services.

“No... this (losses) is not the reason for this exercise (price hike) because currently the rail service is improving.

“What we are saying is that this (increase) is required after 13 years. We have to move in line with economic conditions,” he said.

The fares were last revised in 2002.

Business district

At present, only the Monorail line is charged according to the number of kilometres travelled.

At the Ampang LRT and the Kelana Jaya LRT lines, the rate is charged according to the number of stations travelled, with the latter having rates for stations that are within the Kuala Lumpur central business district and those outside the district.

Earlier today, Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTM) announced that KTM Komuter, which mostly operates within the Klang Valley, will increase its fares to the maximum RM7.10 per trip.

KTM chairperson Sarbini Tijan said the price hike would be effective from Dec 2.

Under Prasarana’s new fare structure, there is a flag fall of 70 sen, plus a distance rate of 30 sen per km for LRT services, or 58 sen per km for Monorail services, for the first four km.

The distance rate is lower for longer-distance journeys, down to 10 sen per km for trips over 24km.

Azmi added that there was also a levy imposed by the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) known as the transport acquirer system, but declined to elaborate.

He said the media should approach SPAD for further details.

For cashless transactions, commuters are entitled to a 17 percent discount on the distance rate.

The discount ranges from 18 to 26 percent for the Smart 7 weekly pass, and 20 to 28 percent for the Smart 30 monthly pass.

The two new passes will be available from Nov 15.

Stored value

Azmi said unlike the current monthly passes, commuters would have to pay RM2.50 upfront for the weekly pass, and RM10 for the monthly pass, to be entitled to the discounted rates.

However, these passes would have a stored value that can be carried forward after their validity period, if they are not fully utilised.

This is in contrast to the RM100 fee currently imposed for the monthly pass, which allows for unlimited use on the LRT, Monorail, and RapidKL bus lines.

“The best part of this product (is this): let’s say that you purchase the Smart 30; you will be charged when you travel and the amount will be deducted based on the distance that you travel.

“So let’s say you have put up some amount for your normal monthly travel, but you did not use all of the value in the card. So the balance of the value in the card will be carried forward to the following month.

“With the current product, you pay RM100 and that’s it if you didn’t use it,” he said.

He added that under the currently monthly pass system, the company cannot track its rail usage effectively, because some users share their monthly passes with others.

Prasarana is also currently looking for partners to give more benefits to users of the new weekly and monthly passes, such as points in loyalty programmes, he said.

Azmi said 94 percent of all LRT and Monorail passengers are daily commuters, with the remainder using the service only occasionally.

Of these, a total of 62 percent of commuters already pay their fares through cashless methods (13 percent monthly passes; 49 percent other methods such as MyRapid card and Touch n’ Go cards).

Free ride

Meanwhile, the 50 percent discount for students, senior citizens and the disabled will be continued, while children below the age of seven and accompanied by an adult can ride free.

Among the journeys that would see a fare reduction is the 5.5km trip between PWTC and Chan Sow Lin, which currently costs RM2.40.

This will drop to RM2.30 for cash transactions, RM2.10 for cashless transactions, RM2 for the Smart 7 pass, and RM1.90 for the Smart 30 pass.

Meanwhile, the short 0.5km Monorail ride between Hang Tuah and Imbi stations would cost RM1.20, both before and after the new fare structure comes into effect, regardless of the method of payment.

The journey between Sentul and Ampang Park, meanwhile, would still cost RM3 after Dec 2 for cash transactions.

However, the same trip would cost RM2.70 for cashless transactions, RM2.60 for the Smart 7 pass, and RM2.50 for the Smart 30 pass.

The trip between KL Sentral and KLCC, however, would cost dearer than the current RM1.60.

It would instead cost RM2.40 for cash transactions, RM2.20 for cashless transactions, RM2.10 for the weekly pass, and RM2 for the monthly pass.