MyBas Johor Bahru

The Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) held a contract signing ceremony on 11 April 2018 with Handal Indah Sdn Bhd (Handal Indah), signalling the pre-launch of the myBAS Johor Bahru service under the Stage Bus Service Transformation (SBST) programme.

The Federal Government introduced the SBST programme through SPAD in 2015 in capital cities beginning Kangar, Seremban, Ipoh and recently Kuala Terengganu, as part of the Government’s efforts to enhance public transport and improve the rakyat’s mobility and access in areas where stage buses remain the backbone of land public transportation.

Under this model, SPAD as the planning authority will be responsible for the network, the operating cost and will receive the fare box revenue. In return, operators will be paid according to Vehicle Operating Cost (VOC) per kilometre rate and are required to deliver on the agreed service level performance to ensure commuters enjoy better connectivity and reliability.

In January 2017, the Government approved the implementation of the SBST programme for all state capitals in Malaysia, including Sabah and Sarawak. myBAS Johor Bahru will be the latest implementation of this programme.

The SBST programme aims to create long-term value for stage bus services plying social routes which previously lacked coverage by developing safe, relevant and reliable bus services. The myBAS service has reached a cumulative ridership of 10.6 million people in Kangar, Seremban, and Ipoh as of February 2018. Overall, there are a total of 56 bus routes with a combined distance of 1,723km in Kangar, Seremban, Ipoh and Kuala Terengganu.

Planned Implementation (Defunct):

These details were announced in 2018 but did not materialise:

The scheme will introduce 27 trunk and feeder routes in Johor Bahru covering a total trip distance of 16.8 million kilometres per year, with improved frequencies of 20 minutes as compared to 30 minutes at present. This will enable commuters in Johor Bahru and adjacent areas to enjoy wider connectivity with reliable and integrated bus services.

A total of 249 buses, consisting of 222 diesel buses and 27 electric buses, will be put into service in phases commencing from the Third Quarter of 2018 until the Second Quarter of 2019. The deployment of the myBAS service will focus on high-ridership routes, with the last phase ushering the implementation of electric buses. Handal Indah will operate the routes in the contract as network operator supported by other local operators.

MyBas Johor Bahru will procure four types of buses. Large buses will have a capacity of 65 passengers, midi-buses with a capacity of 50 passengers, and minibuses with a capacity of 30 passengers. Electric buses will also have a capacity of 65 passengers.

In the initial plan, Phase 1 of the MyBas Johor Bahru scheme will commence services as early as the Third Quarter of 2018, with 68 buses operating on 6 bus routes to Setia Indah, Kempas, Ulu Tiram, Gelang Patah and Senai International Airport.

Phase 2 of the scheme will commence three months later, with an additional 7 bus routes to Permas Jaya, Selesa Jaya, Taman Universiti, Pulai Indah, Larkin, Taman Tan Sri Yaakob and Pasir Gudang.

Phase 3 of the scheme will contain 8 main routes and 6 intermediate-length routes covering bus routes from Johor Bahru to Masai Terminal, Pasir Gudang Terminal, Bukit Indah, Flora Heights, Bakar Batu, Seri Alam and Johor Premium Outlets.

At the soft launch held on 27 February 2022, updated details on the myBAS network were announced. The scheme would be launched in stages starting from the following month, with an eventual 128 buses catering to 19 routes in five corridors in Johor namely Kota Tinggi, Masai, Kulai, Gelang Patah and Pontian. It is expected to benefit 6.4 million people a year

The route network of this bus service is 1,052 km long and intervals are set between 20 to 30 minutes during peak hours, and 30 to 60 minutes off-peak. Meanwhile, 8 electric buses were also to be introduced to operate around the city centre area.

Handal Indah would be the main bus operator supporting the operation of myBAS in Johor Bahru.

The actual implementation of myBAS Johor Bahru started on 31 March 2022, with the introduction of routes T11, T33, T40 and F100. All 19 routes were introduced in stages, with the final route T30 launched on 1 December 2022.

Trunk routes are prefixed with “T” and feeder routes are prefixed with “F”.

Bus service list in 2022-2023:

Effective on 1 February 2023, the routes of myBAS T10, T30 and T31 were amended:

• T10: Amended to JB Sentral ↔ Kota Tinggi via Larkin and Jalan Tampoi (previously Larkin ↔ Kota Tinggi via JB Sentral), and omitting Tebrau Highway between Jalan Tampoi and JB Sentral.
• T30: Extended from Kulai Terminal to Taman Putri Kulai.
• T31: Amended to serve the Taman Universiti estate in both directions (previously only stopped at Taman Universiti Ter in both directions without heading into the estate).

Adjusted services (no route amendment)

Operating hours and/or frequencies were adjusted for T11, T21, T32, and T33, with no route changes.