Last weekend, I had the opportunity to help my friend, who just started working in KL, learn how to navigate public transportation here. She’s lived her entire life in Terengganu and had never ridden a train before. Currently, she’s staying in Damansara, and her workplace is in KL. The drive, to say the least, is unimaginable with tolls, parking fees, and fuel costs. It just doesn’t seem worth it, so she asked me to help her find the nearest public transport station with affordable parking where she could park her car and take the train to her office. Considering that her office in KL is within walking distance of the train stations, this seemed like a great way for her to save money.
We visited three different MRT stations to find the cheapest parking lot. The first one was around a hotel, so you can imagine how expensive that was. The second station had parking beside a big mall, with fees up to RM17 per day—not worth it at all. Finally, at the third station, we discovered that the MRT had a specific parking lot for MRT users, costing only RM4.50 per day at a flat rate. We found our station!
Since it was the weekend, the train intervals were around 10 minutes, but we knew that during the weekdays, it would be just 5 minutes, so we weren’t worried about long waits. My friend subscribed to the My50 Unlimited Travel Pass, paying RM50 per month for unlimited public transport. I opted for the one-day unlimited MyCity Pass for just RM6; they also offer two-day and three-day passes depending on how long you need to travel, all at a minimal cost.
Navigating the map, we chose the fastest and easiest route to her office. She had six stops on the MRT, approximately a 20-minute ride, before needing to switch to the KL Monorail Line. It was just a short walk from her MRT stop to the monorail, with only one stop on the monorail before she could get off and walk the remaining five minutes to her office. Overall, it was quite easy to navigate.
The only challenging part was finding a parking space for her car before heading to the MRT. Her rented house is quite far from any public transport, so she has to drive at least 20-30 minutes to reach an MRT station, and only a few MRT stations have specific parking spaces. Nevertheless, we made the journey, and now she’s saving time, money, and hassle by using public transport.
Reflecting on this experience made me appreciate our public transport system. Despite it being a Sunday, the MRT was still full of families, couples, and other people using public transport. This shows just how important public transport is to the community. The availability of city day passes makes it even more accessible and convenient.
With the LRT3 Shah Alam line opening soon and the MRT3 Circle Line now open for public inspection, I’m looking forward to the future of our public transport.
