Transport Kuala Lumpur, what to move

The public transport system Kuala Lumpur is quite developed and constantly evolving, although at first glance it may seem very confusing and complex. At your choice, you can use rail transport (consisting in turn of several modes of transport), a system of city buses, taxis.

The main company integrating all types of urban public transport is RAPID-KL (Rangkaian Pengangkutan Integrasi Deras Sdn Bhd). It includes three metro lines of the LRT SkyTrain, one line of the new MRT SkyTrain, a monorail, and a network of bus routes. To understand all this diversity, you can use the Route Planner on the site https://www.myrapid.com.my/plan-my-journey, and a route map http://www.myrapid.com.my/rail/routes. Several unofficial route map apps are also available for download and installation.

Travel by bus, monorail and Metro LRT is possible with a single RAPID-KL pass or with a replenishable touch'n Go card. But if you are in the city for only a couple of days, then there is no great sense in them, and it will be more profitable to use one-time tickets, which are purchased before the trip at any station in the vending machines.

Also a very attractive option is KL TravelPass. It includes a trip from the airport on the ARL Aeroexpress, and unlimited movement on all types of urban Metro (LRT, MRT and monorail) for two days. Such passes are sold at the Aeroexpress ticket office at the airport, and on the ground floor of the KL Sentral station. The cost is 70 ringgit (Aeroexpress in one direction) and 115 (Aeroexpress in both directions).

Well, especially worth mentioning about the free buses Go KL. They run on four routes, very convenient for tourists, and completely free.

Read more about all types of transport in Kuala Lumpur and how to get around:

On foot

The center of KL is quite compact, and just walking on foot here you can see a lot. But you should be prepared for merciless heat, high humidity and not very convenient pedestrian infrastructure.

The geography of the city is quite simple and will not cause any special difficulties for experienced tourists, but because of the smooth bends of the roads, sometimes the direction is lost. In addition, free travel maps are not accurate and can be misleading. But what is good, there are convenient signs on the streets, and you can additionally navigate by them. Do not hesitate to contact passers-by, they will always help you.

Traffic on the roads of KL is just crazy, and especially in the central areas. Few people miss pedestrians at crossings. Some pedestrian crossings are equipped with an "on demand" button with a delay. In some places, the transition is organized in the form of a pedestrian bridge, but there are not very many of them.

Given the complexity of the road situation, when crossing the road, even at pedestrian crossings, you should be extremely careful (in any case, we recommend crossing the street at a pedestrian crossing). Just take a closer look at where and how the locals cross the road, and boldly follow along with them. The main thing is not to run across the road, not to Twitch and not to rush from side to side in another stream. The speed here is not great, so drivers, seeing you on the road, will either go around or miss.

A fine for crossing the road in the wrong place or at a red signal theoretically entails a fine of RM 20, but the police on the road are almost invisible, and if they do appear, they are not up to pedestrians.

Taxi

Many taxis of various companies, as well as private traders without a license, constantly run around the city. Of course, it is recommended to use an official (branded) taxi, whose cars are easily recognized by the corporate coloring. All cars (with the exception of private traders) use meters, but drivers under various pretexts try to offer a trip at a fixed price. We recommend that you cancel trips using the tag, since the price without a tag is always several times higher.

The cost of a taxi differs in the colors of the cars, although in principle there is no difference between the cars and the service:

• the cheapest are orange-white and red-white cars: landing in them and the first kilometer costs 3 ringgit (this is about 0.77 US dollars)., see Malaysia money and exchange rate, for the next kilometer 1 ringgit. Thus, a trip within the city center for 3 kilometers on the meter will cost 5 ringgit (about 1.3 US dollars).
• Blue taxis are almost twice as expensive: landing and the first kilometer are 6 ringgit, for each subsequent kilometer 2 ringgit.

You will also have to pay extra for large luggage (about 1 ringgit), a phone call (2 ringgit), travel on toll roads. If you stand in traffic, the counter ticks on time, but much slower. For a trip at night - from 12 to 6 in the morning, and sometimes even for two or more passengers, in addition to the meter readings, 50% is paid. i.e. if the meter has RM 10, RM 15 will be charged.

Learn more read more about taxis in Kuala Lumpur here...

Rent a car

To rent a car or motorcycle in Malaysia, you must have international rights, made in the form of a booklet, which are issued in addition to the basic national rights (see the whole truth about driving licenses abroad). You can get them in the local traffic police or in the MFC, while re-passing the exams is not required. The easiest way to order an IDP on the website of the state service.RF. the cost of registration with a discount through the website of public services will be 1120 rubles.

Remember that traffic in Malaysia is left-handed. Traffic in Kuala Lumpur is very dense, the roads are confusing and difficult. Therefore, think a few times before you rent a car.

You can rent a car at Kuala Lumpur airport as well as at rental offices in the city. The cost starts from $ 25 per day. It is best to search and book a car for rent over the Internet using the search form and price comparison from different rental companies:

Metro

The metro and commuter train system in Kuala Lumpur is very developed. There are several types of it at once:

• Light Rail Transit / Mass Rapid Transit (abbreviated LRT/MRT) – City Metro. The city Metro, covering the main areas of the city, but passing not under the ground, but above it.
• Monorail Line-monorail line. A single monorail subway line complements the city's subway, but there are very few stations.
• KTM Komuter-commuter trains. Mainly used to get out of town and into the suburbs.
• ERL or KLIA Transit and KLIA Express-Aeroexpress to the airport. Only needed to get to/from Kuala Lumpur airport and to travel between airport terminals, but generally more expensive than taking a bus to the airport.

The fare for all types of Metro depends on the length of the trip, and varies from station to station. In general, travel is inexpensive, from 1 ringgit per trip. When buying, you must name the starting and ending stations of the trip at the checkout or indicate the machine, and pay the specified amount.

Ticket control takes place in automatic turnstiles at the entrance to the platforms and at the exit. If you get off at the wrong station, the turnstiles will not let you out.

Learn more about the metro in Kuala Lumpur, and how to use it, here...

Hop-On-Hop-Off tourist bus system

In KL there is a system of tourist shuttle buses Hop-On-Hop-Off. Hop-On-Hop-Off are paid tourist buses that run along a certain route with an interval of 20-30 minutes and make stops at the locations of attractions. There are 22 such stops in Kuala Lumpur, which cover 40 attractions. Buses run 365 days a year without a single weekend from 8:00 to 20:00. They are fully adapted for the disabled.

The principle of use is quite simple: buy a ticket (you can in advance on the site http://www.myhoponhopoff.com, or you can at the entrance to the bus), find the nearest stop of these buses and wait. It's easy to recognize them: they are two-story and packed with tourists with cameras. When the bus comes, Show the ticket (or buy) and go. Get off at any stop, take a walk, see the sights, and come back to the stop again. Then again go to another stop on the same ticket. And so, until you see everything you want, or everything that you have time, since tickets are valid 24 hours and 48 hours.

• 24-hour ticket - 50 ringgit adult; 25-children, students, disabled
• 48-hour ticket - 90 ringgit adult; 45-children, students, disabled
• Children under 5 years-free of charge.

This is certainly not cheap, but if you have a shortage of time, and you want to see a lot, then this is a great alternative to standard urban transport, on which you will lose a lot of time, understanding its intricacies. By the way, tickets are sold with an open date, i.e. you can buy it on the site at home, and use it at any time when you want. The countdown starts from the moment of the first boarding of the bus.

What other advantages? There is free Wi-Fi Internet on board, an open area on the roof, there are audio guides in 9 languages, but not in Russian.

But there are among those who used hop-on-Hop-Off buses and dissatisfied. Cons do exist. Because of the huge traffic jams during peak hours in the capital (and this is almost the entire working day), buses move very slowly, stand for a long time at intersections. Sometimes it is faster to walk the distance from stop to stop than to take the bus. A full circle along the route without leaving the stops according to some reviews takes as much as 3.5 hours. After all, this is the time that you will lose sitting on the bus and exploring the city through a window or from a rooftop platform, instead of getting to know the city intimately. Well, one more drawback, in general, quite a high fare. For the cost of a ticket for 24 hours, you can go around almost all the same attractions by Metro+Taxi, while you will not be limited in time by 24 hours, but you can stretch this period for at least a few days.

Official website, route map and ticket purchase - http://www.myhoponhopoff.com/

Go KL free bus system

Free bus routes in Kuala Lumpur were launched in December 2013. There are four routes (as of 2018), they are not numbered, but differ in colors. They run new and comfortable (air-conditioned) buses that stop at every stop of the city buses that are on their routes. Working period:

• Monday-Friday: 06:00-23: 00
• Saturday-Sunday: 07:00-23: 00
• Bus frequency from 5 to 10 minutes

Of course, such a "freebie" is also used by local residents, so during peak hours (on weekdays from 7:30 to 10:00 and from 16:30 to 20:00) the buses are packed. However, these buses are still a great alternative to taxis and paid city Metro. Their advantage is also that they cover areas and attractions that are not always possible to reach by Metro.

To always have their traffic pattern at hand, you can download a map of their movement to your smartphone in pdf format here. Also in the description of each attraction of Kuala Lumpur, we indicated by bus which color line you can get to them. Official website and additional information - http://www.gokl.com.my/

Learn more about the free bus system in Kuala Lumpur and how to use it here...