Bus travel sees a rise in demand across Malaysia during Raya Haji, according to Malaysia’s No. 1 bus booking app, redBus
Malaysians have now begun to travel freely, with demand for public transport like inter-city buses increasing, according to redBus, the largest bus e-ticketing platform in the world. redBus recorded an impressive increase of 37% in bus ticket sales during the week that led up to Raya Haji compared to a corresponding week the previous month. With domestic demand for bus travel skyrocketing, this report further proves that Malaysians now feel confident to commute using public transport, as they gradually revert back to their pre-pandemic travel patterns again.
As per redBus, more than 100,000+ bus tickets were sold in the span of 1 week that led up to Raya Haji as people geared up for the long weekend to be back with their friends and family. The highest demand for buses was seen on the KL ←→ Malacca and KL ←→ Johor Bahru routes. The markets which saw the highest growth in ticket sales compared to the month before were KL at 50%, Penang at 44% and Perak at 42%. This increased demand has also allowed bus operators to gradually restore full services as more than 110 bus operators serviced 3000+ routes in the country during the Raya Haji season.
Prakash Sangam, Chief Executive Officer of redBus observed “We are beginning to see an accelerating demand for inter-city bus transit in Malaysia. I think it is safe to say that this is a new phase post-pandemic, where we are witnessing high confidence amongst Malaysians to undertake travel aided by unrestricted access to all parts of the country. The festival of Raya Haji has seen high enthusiasm among the people for travel and the trends point to a strong demand for homecoming. We also see this consumer confidence as a positive sentiment for the Malaysian economy, as we expect the bus travel sector to grow by about 30% over the next 6 months with an addition of up to 5000 new jobs in the Malaysian bus travel sector during the same period.”
Krishnan Ramaswami, Senior Vice President - SEA Business of redBus further added “While redBus is striving to become more accountable for the safety of our customers, drivers, and the environment, we are initiating a comprehensive plan including paperless boarding systems, bus pass for frequent purchasers, servicing additional routes and ferry services, among others, to further drive online distribution. We are also parallelly working closely with the Ministry of Transport and several bus operators to further improve the transportation sector by embracing the worldwide trend for a sustainable and resilient future.”
