8/6/13: Kluang-Batu Pahat

I made my bicycle touring debut on 8 June 2013. I took a bus from Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS) at Bandar Tasik Selatan (BTS). I always wanted to do a bicycle touring, and the reason why I adopted Opie.

After packing my “stuffs” in two Ortlieb front roller plus (which my friend told I “over-packed”), I took the LRT to BTS. I hadn’t bought the ticket yet, as I was quite certain that I would get the tickets that time. As it turned out, only 10 person boarded the S&S bus to Kluang at 8.30am.

I reached Kluang bus terminal at about 11am. As I found out from the bus driver that the KTM train station was not that far, I took my time to unpack my folding bike. My friend from Singapore was already at the train station by that time. He took the train from Woodlands to Kluang. I met him there at the famous Kluang RailCoffee.

After having our breakfast of toasts, nasi lemak and coffee, we rolled out to Batu Pahat. It was a very straight forward route. One long straight road all the way to Batu Pahat – 54-km of pedalling.

The route from Kluang to Ayer Hitam was quite nerve-wrecking. The road shoulder to cycle on was quite narrow, and I encountered quite a lot of roadkills, including dog, cat, bird and monitor lizard. It was definitely not for the faint-hearted.

Once you have passed Ayer Hitam (quite traffic jammed in this town), the road has good wide road shoulder for bicycle and kapcai. It was definitely easier to ride from Ayer Hitam to Batu Pahat. There aren’t many shades along the road, and the sun was out in full force. I was totally knackered by the time I reached Tun Hussein Onn University. My friend had already reached the outskirt of Batu Pahat by that time, and I was still 15 km away.

We started our journey at 12 noon and I reached Landmark Hotel in Batu Pahat at about 4.30pm.

After checking in and showered, my friend and I met up with Azizan CycleFriday. He drove us to Pantai Minyak Beku. We had our late lunch there and took in the scenic beach (I know, I live in KL and I seldom see the sea)

The next day would be the gruelling ride to Tg Piai (or so it seemed).

Go-KL City Bus updated route

SPAD has just announced the updated route for Go-KL City bus service.

Looks like only the  Green bus line will be affected. Now the bus will not be going by KL Tower, The Weld and Starhill Gallery, but will extend its service to Berjaya Times Square (BTS) and Sg Wang Plaza.

For commuters coming from Pasar Seni hub to BTS, you have to change bus from Purple Line to Green Line at Cosway (aka Pavilion) bus stop, if you prefer not to walk from McD’s at Jalan BB/Sultan Ismail junction.

Maybe we have to thank Vincent Tan for lobbying for Go-KL City bus service to go to his cluster of buildings there.

I have also updated my links on top –> Go-KL

The image is available at SPAD website.

Walking vs Cycling

What is the difference between walking and cycling?

From my home, the range that I could cover by cycling is very BIG, as compared to if I walk.

I get to explore further to get my meals or groceries, for example, instead of the same old same old “wai sek kai”.

What about you?

Walking only gets me so far, like about 500m from home

but cycling, gets me further – definitely 2km or more

Go-KL vs Teksi

I feel like I have to write something w.r.t. the issue above. A couple of days ago, a group of taxi drivers staged a protest in front of Pavilion at Jalan Bukit Bintang; to protest against the intimidation by SPAD officers, and against the Go-KL City buses. They claimed that SPAD officers were targeting them unfairly for minor infringements, and the free Go-KL City Bus service are affecting their livelihood.

In my opinion, what the taxi drivers claimed are not totally baseless, but their reasoning is quite pathetic. SPAD had rightly performed its duty to issue summons to renegade taxis. There were too many complaints about taxis and its drivers. I support SPAD in clamping down the errant taxis.

I also believe that taxi drivers are having a hard time earning good wages. However, Go-KL City buses are not the one to be blamed.  With over 37,000 taxi permits issued in Klang Valley (according to a Malay Mail article in 2011), no wonder the drivers are having a hard time finding customers. LPKP (SPAD’s predecessor) should be held accountable for the way the issuance of taxi permits are not controlled.

How many taxi trips per day do people in Klang Valley make? What is the average distance they take on taxis? What are the average charges for each trip? Which areas of Klang Valley have the most taxi trips? Which points of starting and destination are the most frequent? What are the demographics of the passengers of taxis? How much does each taxi driver make per day? Has the demand of taxis exceeded the supply of taxis?

Has LPKP or SPAD done any of these studies? How do they use the results of the studies to decide the best policy for taxis? I think they haven’t done any, because if they had, there wouldn’t be 37,000 taxis permits issued by the agency.

I am grateful that SPAD introduce the Go-KL City bus service, but not because it is free. I am grateful because I know now, I can move around downtown KL by bus, without waiting more than 10 minutes for a bus. That is a convenience I like about the SPAD’s new initiative.

I have never liked taking a taxi. I rather take a bus, ride the LRT/Monorel or ride my bicycle to downtown KL. There are too many horror stories about our taxis service. Someone high up in the government still could claim that the taxi drivers are our ambassadors to the tourists. I shudder just thinking about it.

The only good thing that has come out of this protest is that Go-KL City Bus gets a boost in popularity. Now, everyone in Klang Valley knows there is a free bus service called Go-KL City Bus. And my blog also have higher page impressions the past 3 days because many people are googling for “Go-KL”. Cheers!

Read and decide for yourselves.

http://www.cbt.com.my/2012/10/07/analysis-authority-and-kl-cabbies-siege-mentality/

http://www.cbt.com.my/2012/10/02/cabbies-protest-in-bukit-bintang/

http://www.cbt.com.my/2012/10/03/cancel-all-of-my-outstanding-summonses/

Star Metro: Locals and tourists find GOKL service prompt and convenient

FMT: System, not cabbies to blame

FMT: No support for cabbie protest

MD: SPAD to Look Into Taxi Woes in Bukit Bintang

KL is the BEST! (image from the Star)

Go-KL City Bus latest route

Go-KL has just released the latest route image via its Facebook page