The Taiping Municipal Council (MPT) will be starting an EV (electric vehicle) bus service over a trial period of three months from May 1 to July 31, 2023.
State housing and local government committee chairman Sandrea Ng Shy Ching said the bus will ply the Heritage Trail and the public using the service will only be charged on Aug 1, 2023.
Ng said she understood MPT is the first local authority in the country to own and manage an EV bus service.
“We believe this EV bus service will boost the tourism sector and introduce tourism destinations and products in Taiping to all Malaysians and foreign tourists,” she said after officiating at the MPT EV bus launch here today.
Ng said the route of the bus operation, with four daily trips from Monday to Friday and five trips for Saturday and Sunday, goes around Taiping town up to the Heritage Trail over a distance of 11.5 kilometres.
According to Ng, tickets can be obtained at the Taiping Zoo and Night Safari ticket counter with a fee of RM20 for adults and RM10 for the elderly, children and the disabled, but tickets will be sold at a discounted rate of 30 per cent until Dec 31, 2023.
He said each trip takes one hour and 21 minutes with a tour guide provided to explain the sights and locations along the Heritage Trail.
The EV bus, which can accommodate 22 passengers and one disabled passenger, is an initiative of several local and foreign companies since 2015.
The bus is fully electric and donated by the Japanese government through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Source: BERNAMA News Agency