This cute little bus is officially called the T851 Free Shuttle Bus, but we call it Bas Parlimen. This is because Rapid KL’s newest route is to bring people from the car parks at KL Sentral and Taman Botani Perdana to Parliament.
You’re asking why, as this writer does. Well, it’s because of the lack of parking in council. According to Transport Minister Anthony Locke, an average of 2,000 cars enter Parliament every day, but there are only 500 parking spaces.
“It means that three out of four cars entering Parliament will have a hard time finding parking unless you arrive very, very early. It also affects those who work in Parliament, including the media and officials, who are forced to queue every morning time to enter parliament and get a safe pass,” he said today, according to reports malay mail.
The Seremban MP said the process to enter Parliament could take up to an hour. “We want to provide a quality of life. The service is currently undergoing a trial run as a proof of concept. After that, we will see what improvements need to be made,” he added. Now we know.
Offered by Prasarana at RM800 per bus per day, T851 departs from ERL departure side of KL Sentral to Taman Botani Perdana multi-storey car park and then to Parliament. The Lake Gardens car park is the closest large car park to Parliament. Frequency will be every 30 minutes during peak hours and hourly during off-peak hours.
Bas Parlimen will no doubt be a boon to members of the media covering Parliament, but will we also see our Yang Berhormats on the bus?