6. Contents/ Points

Before starting the data collection at the rural area, we did some survey on the bus

available and route map from the internet. The targeted location, Tasek Gelugor, is

approximately 25km from Butterworth, 17km from Bukit Mertajam and 13km from

Kepala Batas.

Public transports available to cities from Tasek Gelugor are summarized below:

(a) Rapid Penang

(b) City Liner

ROUTE START POINT-END POINT52 Penang Sentral – Padang Serai20 Bukit Mertajam - Tasek Gelugor

We can see that buses are available from three routes, among them two buses going for

the same route which is towards Penang Sentral (Butterworth Jetty). This can be

supported by the results from the questionnaire among the residents where most of the

residents in this area having the demand to go to Butterworth with public transportation.

The destination that you need public transport

ButterworthBukit MertajamKepala batasI don't sit bus

From the interview, we got information from the residents that the bus going to Kepala

Batas is newly added route and the bus having wide frequency range, which means that it

is hardly to get a bus to Kepala Batas from here. Ms. Sugayori mentioned that, she is

working at Kepala Batas and she is delighted with the new added route from Rapid

Penang (610), but sometimes she needs to wait up to more than one hour only board to

the bus. She hopes that the frequency range can be reduced to at least 30 minutes per bus

for those who need it.

Based on this, one of the questionnaire questions aimed to survey on the satisfaction of

residents towards the frequency range of the public transport.

Satisfy on the frequency range of buses

Penang Sentral Bukit Mertajam Kepala Batas02468

10121416

52602

Via the chatting with the interviewees, most of them are dissatisfy with the frequency

range which is set but not followed. We can see that there are two bus companies

providing route to Penang Sentral, but the residents always need to wait up to one hour to

get buses to the destination. And what they commented is two buses with same route

always come together. If there are two buses going to same route, they should scheduled

to come simultaneously, so that the frequency range can be narrowed and buses reach in

20 minutes at bus stop regardless of which company’s bus.

For the second highest demanded destination, Bukit Mertajam, it is found out that the bus

come more frequent and the residents are satisfy with the frequency range provided.

From our observation when doing the project, the buses towards Bukit Mertajam really

come more frequent than the buses towards Penang Sentral.

Route Average waiting time602 1 hours 5 minutes610 1 hours 15 minutes52 50 minutes20 40 minutes

*The data only based on the single day of observation

Another point studied is the satisfaction of the residents towards the fare of the buses.

Collecting the data from the internet, the fare of rapid Penang is based on the distance of

the destination as listed below and the fare of City Liner buses is not provided in the

internet, thus we ask around the residents with which fare of the buses they are satisfy

with:

As the interviewees provide the information that the fare for City Liner going to Penang

Sentral is cheaper than Rapid Penang but both of the fares are reasonable. According to

the residents, before Rapid Penang provides the service in Tasek Gelugor, the buses of

City Liner are not in good condition, with no air-conditioner and the frequency range is

wide, they need to wait for the buses for a longer time. After Rapid Penang introduced,

with the new air-conditioned buses and reasonable price, most of the residents choose to

board Rapid Penang buses.

After some period of time, City Liner improved their buses to air-condition but the fare

still the same. Thus, some residents accepted and will board any bus that comes since the

price suit the condition of the bus. From the information collected, for the route from

Tasek Gelugor to Penang Sentral, Rapid Penang having the fare of RM 3.40 and City

Liner RM 2.50.

Do you satisfy with the bus fare?

Yes (Rapid Penang)Yes (City Liner)No (Rapid Penang)No (City Liner)

Lastly the residents are being questioned on the satisfaction towards the condition of the

bus stop. There are 9 bus stops located in Tasek Gelugor. One of the bus stops as

observed near Taman Bakawali, having no roof and residents are waited behind the bus

stop (roof of the shop). Some of the bus stops are observed with dirty conditions. Mr.

Ong said that sometimes they are not able to see whether the bus coming or not because

some of the lorry drivers like to stop their lorry nearby bus stop for meals (there are food

stalls nearby bus stop). This is causing problems to residents who are waiting and the bus

driver as well since they cannot see each other clearly and the bus is not able to stop at

bus stop.

Are you satisfy with bus stop provided?

YesNo

Next, we did question and answer session with one of the bus driver. It is found out that,

most of the residents are heading straight to Penang Sentral (Butterworth Jetty). In one

day time, around 40% of the customers are from Tasek Gelugor. Regarding the earliest

bus provided, 6am will have the first bus of the day and the latest is 8pm from Penang

Sentral to Tasek Gelugor. Sunday is the peak day where there are most of the residents

boarding to the bus. And peak time for one day is evening time with most workers and

students.