Key projects inaugurated in Malaysia

Malaysia has recently inaugurated two of the country’s key transport projects: the RAPID KUANTAN Bus Integrated System and the Sunway Bus Rapid Transit (BRT).

 May 31 saw the inauguration of the RAPID KUANTAN Bus Integrated System, developed by GMV for the operator RAPID KUANTAN in the city of Kuantan, capital of Pahang state (Malaysia).

GMV has carried out this Kuantan public bus-transport project for Prasarana Malaysia Berhad, a government-owned firm that is owner of Malaysia’s biggest urban bus operators: Rapid KL, Rapid Penang and Rapid Kuantan. Improvement of the urban transport system is one of the 7 key initiatives identified by the Malaysian government within the Government Transformation Program (GTP) and Prasarana is playing a crucial role in this whole process.

This GMV-developed integral urban transport fleet management system has now become the most advanced ever installed in South-East Asia, given the integration characteristics between the various technological platforms. The project as a whole includes a timetable planning system with optimization; a fleet management system with information for onboard and bus-stop passengers, duly adapted for the visually handicapped; an electronic fare-collection system incorporating the contactless cards Touch n’Go and MyRapid plus onboard and bus-stop video surveillance.

All onboard systems are managed by GMV’s onboard REC30 unit, which combines in a single device the tracking equipment, fleet-management equipment and CCTV video recorder with online streaming.

Practically at the same time, on 1 June, Najib Tun Razak, Malaysia’s Prime Minister, inaugurated the new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line of Sunway (Kuala Lumpur), the country’s first ever system of this type.

Known as BRT Sunway Line, it is fruit of public-private collaboration between Prasarana Malaysia Berhad and Sunway Bessrhad. This is a trailblazing project in Malaysia, consisting of a 5.4 km track, seven halts and interconnections with the city’s other means of transport.

One of the prime features of this infrastructure is the use of electric buses, which are more environment friendly and cut down air pollution. The bus runs on a dedicated elevated track so that passengers can beat traffic problems.

The project awarded to GMV in this BRT takes in a complete fleet management system with mixed GPS and RFID tracking, WiFi communication, advanced onboard video surveillance, PA and passenger information system at halts and onboard buses plus a Master Clock system for real-time synchronization of all infrastructure subsystems.