Go KL City Bus

Go KL City Bus (style as GOKL CityBus) is a free bus service that serving the city centre of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Previously managed by Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Awam Malaysia (SPAD), the services were taken over by Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) by 1st of January 2019.[1][2][3]

King Long XMQ6121G in-front of KLCC
Founded31 August 2012 (2012-08-31)
Service areaKuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Service typeFree bus services
DestinationsBukit Bintang MRT
Pasar Seni
Titiwangsa
MINDEF
Universiti
PPR Seri Pantai
KLCC
KL Sentral
Flat Kelumpuk Bambu
PPR Kampung Batu Muda
Sentul
Sri Rampai
Stadium Cheras
Bandar Sri Permaisuri
Cochrane MRT
Maluri
Fleet80
OperatorCauseway Link (Handal Indah), SKSBus

History

The free service were introduced by SPAD to help users save money by allowing users to move around Kuala Lumpur with no cost. Kuala Lumpur City Centre, Bukit Bintang and Chinatown area are the first coverage area to enjoy the service since it was launched on 31 August 2012, with 2 routes, namely Purple Line and Green Line.[4]

On 1 May 2014, the free service has added two routes, namely Red Line and Blue Line, connecting Chow Kit, Kampung Baru, KL Sentral and Bukit Bintang, thus making four different circular city routes that can be identified by the color of the routes.

By 1st of January 2019, the service were taken over by Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur due to termination of SPAD in 2018. Since then, the service now focuses on the feeder routes to help low-income users commute easily between residential areas and business centres or station. Orange Line were the first feeder to be introduced in 28th February 2019, followed by Pink feeder route in April 2019, and Turqouise line in October 2019, launched by Tuan Khalid Abdul Samad, Ministry of Federal Territories at that time. Maroon line was added in August 2020, followed by Chocolate Line in the end of December 2020, launched by Tan Sri Annuar Musa.

On 27th of October 2021, a new electric bus were launched by Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim to provide greener mode of transportation for low-carbon Kuala Lumpur city target by 2030, followed by the launching of Parrot Green and Grey line. Both routes were started operation in November 2021.[5][6]

Open to residents and tourists, these services can be used at the GoKL City Bus official bus stop. Most bus stops are in close proximity to tourist attractions, major shopping centers, residential areas and easy way to connect through rail transit services such as KTM Komuter, Rapid KL and ERL.

Bus routes

City routes (last mile)

Feeder routes (first mile)

All buses make a circular one-way route clockwise based on Go KL route map. These routes are not parallel with the bus route with a fare such as Rapid KL buses to avoid competition on passengers load. Therefore, GoKL City Bus passengers are intended for traveling within the Central Business District (CBD) and residential areas, saving money and looking for a free ride.[7]

Bus interchange
  • Grand Seasons Hotel, HKL (Opp) and Bus Terminal Jalan Tun Razak for  Red Line,  Blue Line and  Orange Line
  • Medan MARA, Puteri Park Hotel and Chow Kit (connection to 34 LRT Bandaraya/12 KTM Bank Negara/8Chow Kit) for  Blue Line and  Red Line
  • Concorde Hotel for  Blue Line and  Green Line
  • Wisma MPL, Menara ING and The Weld for  Purple Line and  Blue Line
  • Life Centre, Fahrenheit 88 and Bukit Bintang for  Purple Line,  Green Line and  Blue Line
  • Maluri Station and SMK Seri Tasik for  Grey Line and  Parrot Green Line.

Rail interchange

Fleet

Current
  • Yutong ZK6126HG (Causeway Link) - 40 buses (1st November 2021 - )
  • SKS LEC-300 (Causeway Link, SKSBus) - 40 buses (1st November 2021 - )
  • SKS Electric bus (SKSBus) - 1 bus (1st November 2021 - )

Currently, the fleet consist of 40 Yutong ZK6126HG, managed by Causeway Link (Handal Indah), and 40 SKS LEC-300, managed by a combination of Causeway Link and SKSBus. The buses were painted with green and turquoise color in line with the new DBKL initiative for greener mode of transportation. The SKS electric bus entered service on 1st of November 2021 on Chocolate Line, and will replace all the diesel buses by stages until early 2023.

Yutong ZK6126HG
SKSBus LEC-300
SKSBus electric bus

Former
  • King Long XMQ6121G (rapidKL) - 20 buses (31 August 2012 - 31st July 2015)
  • Daewoo BV120MA (CityLiner) - 20 buses (1st May 2014 - 31st July 2015)
  • Scania K250UB (rapidKL) - 40 buses (1st August 2015 - 31st October 2021)
  • Alexander Dennis Enviro200 (rapidKL) - 20 buses (1st August 2015 - 1st May 2021)
  • Scania K270UB (rapidKL) - 20 buses (28th August 2020 - 31st October 2021)

Previously, the fleet consists of King Long XMQ6121G buses from RapidKL for Green and Purple Line, and Daewoo BV120MA NGV buses from Konsortium Transnasional for Red and Blue Line, painted with purple and pink livery. These buses were replaced on 1st of August 2015 with Scania K-series and Alexander Dennis Enviro200s.[8] Normally the Enviro200 served the Blue Line and the Red Line, Scania K270 served the Maroon and Chocolate Line, and the Scania K250 buses served the rest of the line, though the Scania K250 buses also serve the other lines during rush hours. The buses were used until 31st of October 2021, where all GoKL operations were transferred to Causeway Link and SKSBus. All the buses were returned to the respective operators and repainted to deploy on normal services.

Alexander Dennis Enviro200

Operation hours and bus frequency

City routes
  • Monday to Thursday: 6.00am - 11.00pm
  • Friday to Saturday: 6.00am - 1.00am
  • Sunday: 7.00am - 11.00pm

Feeder routes
  • Every day: 7.00am - 10.00pm

The frequency of buses is expected to be in 8 to 15 minutes for city routes, and in 30 minutes for feeder routes, depending on the traffic.[8] For people with disabilities, each bus has a wheelchair access ramp.

See also

References
  1. The Star Online. "Free city bus service is the way to GO". thestar.com.my. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  2. The Star Online. "New free city bus service a relief to KL residents". thestar.com.my. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  3. New Straits Times. "No stopping GO-KL, says SPAD chief". thestar.com.my. Archived from the original on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
  4. Suruhanjaya Pengangkutan Awam Darat (2016). Menyentuh dan mengubah kehidupan, menghubungkan komuniti : perjalanan transformasi pengangkutan awam darat 2010 - 2015 (in Malay). Kuala Lumpur: Suruhanjaya Pengangkutan Awam Darat. p. 31.
  5. BERNAMA (28 February 2019). "Bas percuma GoKL Titiwangsa-Mindef bermula hari ini". HM Online (in Malay). Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  6. "Perkhidmatan GO KL Diperluaskan Dengan Laluan Biru Firus - Media Releases | MyRapid Your Public Transport Portal". www.myrapid.com.my. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  7. Foreign tourists impressed with Go KL free shuttle service, says bus ‘captain’
  8. SPAD: Helping commuters get around the Central Business District (CBD) area
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