I’m quite the seasoned bus-traveller. Spent four years in Malacca and let me tell you the eight-hour Malacca-Penang journey was no joke. Students usually had to settle for the cheapest buses and looking back it was quite hazardous – many companies have poor maintenance for their buses and do this irritating thing where they swap passangers with other companies to save on trips, meaning you could be rudely awakened at 6am in the morning to change buses.
Most travellers will know that if you aren’t going for the premium buses like Nice or Aeroline, safety-wise (at least, relatively) the most reliable companies are Transnasional and Plusliner (Plusliner being the economy version of Nice). Unfortunately Transnasional and Plusliner also only have 32-seater versions so you’re crammed into small seats, four to a row.
Even with the premium on Nice/Aeroline and the discomfort on Transnasional/Plusliner, many are still avoiding the other bus companies like the plague because of their bad reputations. Konsortium for example was the company involved in the recent express double-decker bus crash in April. People in the know avoid these companies like the plague.
What’s annoying though is that instead of concentrating on upgrading their fleet, they instead go for the hard sell. You’ll know what I’m talking about if you buy bus tickets regularly.
(Lime uniform -> Konsortium
White uniform -> Gunung Raya)
It was annoying enough when they stood by their counters yelling at you to come look, now these fuckers actually wait by the doorway and put their hand on your shoulder and ask you to buy tickets from them.Then if you show displeasure they say you are sombong and look as though they want to beat you up. Yea sure that’ll get you lots of customers!
I’m glad I earn enough to shell out for Nice sometimes now. Safety first, not to mention I never really got used to waking up to see cockroaches crawling by the window sill.
Related posts:
- 30% of M’sian bus drivers suck?Today’s Star had this bit about the (much belated) police crackdown following the recent bus fiasco: Konsortium Express Penang manager...
Inc defamation/sedition lawsuit in 3… 2… 1…