Introduction of Public Transportation System in Kota Kinabalu Sabah.

Due to the demand from the low income earners, wide destination coverage and
concern for the increasing price of car fuel as well as to traffic congestion problem,
bus had become the main public transportation in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah for years.
(Public Bus Transportation In Kota Kinabalu, 2013). Moreover, despite being
perceived as less comfortable, less physically attractive, non-punctual and unsafe,
Sabah citizen as well as the tourists still choosing buses to travel from one
destinations to other destinations all around the state because of the lower rate of
ticket bus compare to taxi and others.

According to Murphy (2012), in general, there are 4 types of buses around Kota
Kinabalu (KK), such as Long-Distance Bus (take you to other major towns/cities in
Sabah), Local Bus (take you to suburban areas and vicinity of KK), City Bus (take you
around every corner of KK City) and Airport Bus (transfer passengers between KK
International Airports and KK City). However, it is very hard for the citizen and tourist
to understand the time table and the route of the buses due to the improper time
table, non-punctual and lack of bus route mapping for all types of buses. Even though
the City Bus had the route mapping that being placed on several bus station and also
can be downloaded via mobile phone from their website, due to the lack of
advertisement, less users used the route mapping as a references to plan their
journey.

Besides, over three decades, there is still no significant improvement can be seen
especially relating to the bus services even though the government at federal, state
and local levels has formulated and implemented various plan to improve public
transportation in Kota Kinabalu city. This can be seen on 2017 where the public
transportation especially buses and airport terminal could not fully accommodate a
7.9 million of tourist that it had short around 1.1 million of its capacity by the end of
the year (B.J., 2018).

Therefore, it is essential for Malaysia’s Government to focus on improving the public

transportation system in Sabah as public bus transportation is important not only to
provide commuting services for its citizen and the tourists but also facilitate the
growth of economy of the city.
Murphy. (2012, September 26). Traveling in Sabah by Buses - MySabah.com.
Retrieved April 7, 2018, from
http://www.bing.com/cr?IG=A8357ECE3AA44BE19FFD487C60E05991&CID=2A11F
37ECD9F6E682A5CF8B5CC306FAA&rd=1&h=qFOMl5jJkJggsQUrojfrBLLE4RxtOhg5p
GQxYp4RJuY&v=1&r=http://www.mysabah.com/wordpress/sabah-
buses/&p=DevEx,5070.1

Essays, UK. (November 2013). Public Bus Transportation In Kota Kinabalu.

Retrieved from http://www.ukessays.com/essays/construction/public-bus-
transportation-in-kota-kinabalu-construction-essay.php?vref=1

B. J. (2018, February 25). MALAYSIA LURES CHINESE TOURISTS TO SABAH

STATE WITH SUN, SAND AND SELFIES. South China Morning Post. Retrieved
February 7, 2018, from http://www.scmp.com/week-
asia/society/article/2134342/malaysia-lures-chinese-tourists-sabah-state-sun-sand-
and-selfies

Essays, UK. (November 2013). Public Bus Transportation In Kota Kinabalu.

Retrieved from http://www.ukessays.com/essays/construction/public-bus-
transportation-in-kota-kinabalu-construction-essay.php?vref=1