THE Penang government extends its free ferry ridership programme to all Malaysian foot passengers using the catamaran (speedboat) services until end of next year.
Earlier, on July 1 this year, the state government has launched the free ferry ridership programme for the pedestrians for six months.
State Transport and Infrastructure Committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari said the state government has allocated RM78,000 to bear the cost for 65,000 tickets (to-and-fro) per month for the programme next year.
“The total cost estimated for the programme for the year 2022 is RM936,000.
“With this, we hope that it will help to ease the travelling cost of our people especially during this critical time.
“Apart from this, we also had earlier initiated the Pas Mutiara programme for RapidPenang transport services.
“Both the initiatives have made Penang become the only state in the country whereby its entire public transport system offers a free ridership for its people,’’ said Zairil during a press conference held at the Swettenham Pier today.
Zairil also said the passengers before boarding the catamaran only need to tap their MyKad on the scanning device installed by the Penang Port Sdn Bhd (PPSB) to get their free tickets.
“While for the motorcyclists and cyclists using the vehicle ferry, they still need to pay the fare as our aim is to reduce the usage of personal vehicles,’’ he added.
Meanwhile, Penang Port Commission chairman Datuk Tan Teik Cheng thanked the state government for continuing the free ferry ridership programme.
“This is a collaboration between the Federal agency and the state government in which the spirit of togetherness has been exhibited by the state government,” Tan added.
Also present were Deputy State Secretary Datuk Azhar Arshad and local government transportation section head Datuk Lim Hock Seng.
Story by Tanushalini Moroter
Pix by Ahmad Adil Muhamad