Rapid Bus

Rapid Bus Sdn Bhd is the largest bus operator in Malaysia operating mainly in urban areas of Klang Valley and Penang. As of January 2026, Rapid KL service brands unit of Rapid Bus, has operates 105 normal routes and also 69 MRT Feeder Bus routes, along with 7 Nadiputra routes in Putrajaya. [4]

Rapid Bus routes were previously operated by Intrakota Komposit Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of DRB-Hicom Berhad; and Cityliner Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Park May Berhad. When it took over, there were 179 routes. Since January 2006, Rapid KL has redrawn the entire network.

Rapid Bus is however not the only bus operator in Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley. Other bus operators such as Selangor Omnibus, MARA Liner and Causeway Link also serve the Klang Valley.

History

In October 2003, Prasarana Malaysia Berhad bought over Intrakota Komposit and its subsidiaries from DRB-Hicom for RM177mil. It also paid RM14mil cash for the 364 buses belonging to Cityliner. The original companies were appointed as interim operators.

Rapid Bus began the first phase of the revamp of its bus network in January 2006 by introducing 15 City Shuttle bus routes which continue to serve major areas in the central business district of Kuala Lumpur. The buses run between four hubs at the edge of the central business district, namely KL Sentral, Titiwangsa, KLCC and Maluri, and Medan Pasar in the city centre. These bus hubs also serve as rail interchanges, with the exception of Medan Pasar, although it is at a walking distance from Masjid Jamek LRT station.

In March 2006, Rapid Bus revamped the bus network serving Kepong, Selayang, Gombak, Batu Caves, Bandar Sri Damansara and Bandar Manjalara areas which it called Area 2. The areas are now service by four Trunk Routes and 35 Local Shuttle routes when fully implemented. The four trunk routes all begin from the Titiwangsa hub where passengers can change to City Shuttles. At the other end, the trunk routes serve regional hubs where Local Shuttles fan out into the residential suburbs.

On 30 April 2006, the bus network in Area 3 covering Setapak, Ulu Kelang, Wangsa Maju, Keramat, Ampang and Pandan was revamped. Three trunk bus routes serve this area, one from Titiwangsa and two from KLCC while 26 local shuttle routes complete the network for this area.

On 1 July 2006, two express services, four trunk lines and 32 local services were introduced in Area 4. It covers areas including Cheras, Serdang, Kajang, Balakong, Putrajaya, Cyberjaya and Bandar Baru Bangi.

On 23 September 2006, Rapid Bus' revamp of the Klang Valley's bus network became complete with the introduction of new routes in Area Five which covers Subang Jaya, USJ, Puchong, and Petaling Jaya, Shah Alam and Klang south of the Federal Highway; and Area Six which covers Damansara, Bandar Utama, Kota Damansara and areas of Petaling Jaya, Shah Alam and Klang north of the Federal Highway.

On 21 April 2007, sixteen months after the first part of the first revamp, a second major revamp was undertaken on the entire bus network on grounds of feedback from commuters who wanted the buses to ferry them from their housing estates directly to the city center without a need to change buses in the middle of their journey.[5]

This revamp saw the routes being adjusted (e.g. B112 [Maluri — KL Sentral], formerly 112, now passes by Jalan Hang Tuah/Pudu/Tun Tan Cheng Lock instead of Jalan Maharajalela/Sultan Sulaiman), extended (T40 [Kajang — Maluri], is now U40 and is extended to Pasar Seni LRT), merged (T41 [Serdang Komuter — Maluri] and 414 [Serdang — Bandar Sungai Long] become U41 [Pasar Seni LRT — Bandar Sungai Long]) or discontinued (route 107 ceased operations on that date).

On 1 December 2015, a third revamp, known as The Bus Network Revamp (BNR) was carried out by SPAD to improve urban public transport in Greater Kuala Lumpur/ Klang Valley. This procedure has caused RapidKL to surrender most of its bus routes to other bus providers such as Causeway Link, Selangor Omnibus, Setara Jaya and Nadi Putra, and also changes to the route numbers.

On 18 June 2020, Rapid Bus released new features on real time locations of bus in Google Maps, via collaboration with Google Transit.[6][7][8][9] Almost 170 RapidKL's bus routes are covered with this real-time feature and were expanded to MRT feeder bus service as well as Rapid Penang and Rapid Kuantan.

In 2023, Rapid KL took over as the bus service operator for Pengangkutan Awam Putrajaya Travel & Tours Sdn Bhd in Putrajaya.

In 2026, Rapid KL conducted the bus service restructuring process on some low-demand routes for service optimization and boosted efficiency. [10] Over 29 bus routes were affected by the bus service restructuring, which was done in phases. The affected routes were converted to demand-responsive transit (DRT) service known as Rapid On-Demand or replaced with another parallel rail service.

Services

Using Rapid Bus in Rapid KL brands

Rapid On-Demand

Rapid Bus provides the demand-responsive transit (DRT) service, currently known as Rapid On-Demand. Rapid On-Demand provides a flexible, ride-sharing public transportation service that operates without fixed routes or schedules. These vans are dynamically dispatched based on passenger requests through the Rapid on-Demand app, optimizing routes in real-time using AI and GPS tracking.

Rapid on-Demand was first introduced as the proof-of-concept (POC) service in Wangsa Maju through route T250 from 3 October 2022 to 5 February 2023, followed by Alam Megah through route T757 from 13 February 2023 (now a permanent DRT service that replaced the feeder bus service) and Universiti Malaya through route T789 from 15 May 2023 to 14 August 2023. The promotional rate of fare was RM1.00 which was available from the start of the proof-of-concept service in 2023 until 31 January 2026 where it became RM2.00. In addition, passengers with monthly passes are now required to pay the booking fare of the service. [13]

As of July 2025 where the DRT proof-of-concept service was successful in 2023, there are currently 92 Rapid On-Demand services in operation (79 Rapid KL On-Demand & 13 Rapid Penang On-Demand) with 300 vans deployed. Some of the on-demand routes are replacing the respective feeder bus services, which have lower ridership. [14] The Rapid on-demand services have expanded to service areas without Rapid KL bus and rail services, such as the Rawang, Sepang & Klang areas in Selangor as well as the Seberang Perai area in Penang. [15]

RapidBET – Rapid Bus Express Transit service

In 2010, SPAD introduced the express transit system in Klang Valley, namely BET, where the buses utilize less congested highways to link heavily populated areas and city centers in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Penang. Naturally, by using the highways, travel time is reduced, as the highways are less congested than the normal routes. The service will have limited stops and rely on feeder buses and park-n-ride facilities to ensure sufficient ridership. With BET, travel time is expected to be reduced by up to 50 percent on certain BETs.

During the introduction of these services, there were six routes managed by Rapid KL, and these services were only available on weekdays and during the morning and evening rush hours only. For this initial introductory stage, BET ran at 15 minute intervals during the morning and evening peak hours. Frequency and service periods were increased at a later stage depending on the demand for each route.

Buses for BET routes consisted of two to five buses initially and continued to be reviewed from time to time as the demand grew. BET is more of an enhancement to the current services, whereby the focus is more to shorten the travel time. Fare for a single journey on RapidKL is RM3 for adults and RM1.50 for concession, at a flat rate. As the rail system has been extended, most of the BET ridership has declined, resulting in the termination of most of the BET routes inside the Kuala Lumpur district area. The last BET inside the Kuala Lumpur district area was the BET7, from Sri Nilam at Bandar Baru Ampang, parallel to bus route 300 until LRT Ampang, then bypassing through Ampang-Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway (AKLEH) until Jalan Tun Razak interchange, then re-merging on 300 at Ampang Park LRT station before terminating at Munshi Abullah bus hub. This route was more heavily used than any other BETs, and the bus only runs during morning rush hour, 4 trips daily. The fleet used is the Alexander Dennis Enviro500 and Volvo B8L double-decker bus.

Bas Wanita – Bus for ladies only

In early December 2010, RapidKL introduced the very first 'Bas Wanita' services in Malaysia, a bus that serve exclusively for ladies passengers only during morning and evening rush hours. Like the KTM Komuter's Ladies Coach, this service is intended to avoid sexual harassment on the fully loaded normal buses during rush hours.[19] 7 routes were put on trial with addition 8 routes after successful trial, with addition of a letter suffix 'W' at the end of route number to distinguish with normal services (e.g. U6W, U80W). Special stickers and signage were placed to make the services more visible. These services were proved to be successful, but they were later discontinued due to a shortage of buses.

RapidPenang Intercity

On 2 August 2015, RapidPenang introduced the very first intercity route from Penang Sentral to Sungai Petani and Parit Buntar. This route uses Scania K250UB (previously Alexander Dennis Enviro500), and the frequency is one hour per bus.

• EB60 – Penang Sentral – Sungai Petani via North-South Expressway
• EB80 – Penang Sentral – Nibong Tebal and Parit Buntar via North-South Expressway

Minibus trial

In September 2019, Rapid KL re-introduced the minibus service to improve first-mile connectivity, especially for sharper and narrower routes.[20] T300 is the first trial route to operate minibus service, using SKSBus E98 Midi-bodied Hino XZU high entry midibus leased from Kiffah Travel and Tours for 3 months. Later on 15 September 2019, another route, T304 were put on trial, using Pioneer-bodied Hino XZU high entry midibus leased from Selangor Omnibus for 3 months.[21] One of the fleet were equipped with wheelchair hydraulic lift for wheelchair access. On 20 October 2019, Rapid KL put another bus on trial using newly imported Hino Poncho minibus leased from Hino Motors Malaysia, which served the T784 service for 3 months.[22] This bus later transferred to Batu Caves for another trial on T201 service.

On 16 November 2020, another trials were implemented, using 2 Toyota Hiace and 1 Hyundai Starex vans on newly-created route T252 for 4 months.[23]

All leased fleets were returned after trials were ended, however on 11 October 2021, Rapid KL resumed the Hino Poncho minibus trials on 302 service, later expanded the trials to Rapid Penang on 15 October 2021 on route 11.

Bus Fleet

As of June 2014, the Rapid Bus fleet consists of 1,400 vehicles.[24]

Bus Depots

Rapid Bus headquarters complex were located at Balakong (Kompleks Rapid Bus Cheras Selatan), where all training purposes, bus academy, new bus testing and major maintenance and overhaul takes place. It also holds as the largest depot than any other Rapid Bus depot. Other depots include Batu Caves, Shah Alam, Depoh Presint 14 and Maluri exclusive for Rapid KL. Rapid Penang currently have 5 depots, namely Lorong Kulit, Mak Mandin, Pengkalan Weld, Sungai Nibong and Nibong Tebal. Semambu depot is the only depot specifically built for Rapid Kuantan. For BRT Sunway Line, the depot located just before SunU-Monash station, while Sungai Buloh, Kajang, Desa Tun Razak, Serdang and Jinjang depots houses the MRT Feeder buses.

See also

• Prasarana Malaysia Berhad
• Rapid Bus Sdn Bhd
• Rapid KL
• BRT Sunway Line
• Rapid Penang
• Rapid Kuantan
• Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD)
• Public transport in Kuala Lumpur
• Buses in Kuala Lumpur
• List of bus routes in Kuala Lumpur

External links

• RapidKL Official Website