It has been confirmed that the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) will take over the GoKL free bus service from the Transport Ministry on January 1. It was earlier reported that Transport Minister Anthony Loke was mulling over this takeover.

Federal Territories Minister Khalid Samad confirmed this, adding that DBKL has also allocated RM20 million for the system to expand its routes and raise its efficiency. He said DBKL will expand and increase the GoKL service where it will not focus only on the city centre to serve tourists but also on the first and last mile.

Khalid explained that the first and last mile meant that GoKL will function as a feeder service to LRT or MRT stations within one mile of a passenger’s home, while the last mile means the bus will send a passenger to a bus stop within one mile of his office.

He also expected public transportation ridership to increase to between 30 and 35 per cent from the current ridership of 20 per cent, as the MRT2 and LRT3 developments are expected to be completed by 2022.