Living in Kuala Lumpur has pros and cons and I’m not going to list them in this post. However, it’s about a problem every pedestrian notices immediately: this place is hostile for non-drivers. It’s understandable, there aren’t many people willing to walk in the city with an average temperature around 30 °C. (Singapore fixes it, though!) But some examples of KL urban design seem like a joke.
I’ve had to travel to KL center and back yesterday. For different reasons, I decided to make all trips using public transport only. Here’s a bus stop. I stood on the same spot and took pictures from both sides.
Sorry, I know this all could be one picture. I simply didn’t have much space to have a better angle.
Lately I contribute into OpenStreetMap data a lot. It’s a wiki-like alternative to Google Maps. To fill data, I use a StreetComplete app. It asks you questions like “What kind of building is this?”, you select, and thousands of people and companies thank you later. Not really… But you feel being a good person!
So I opened an app to mark this bus stop has no bus shelter but instead I got distracted to a question: Is this stop lit? Um, gimme a second…
I don’t know?
Then, I noticed two buses coming my way. I started waving to sign I need them—that’s another Malaysian urban nuance—and they just passed! Two of them! I’ve already spent much time waiting for them, got super sweaty, and then they spat in my face! I immediately checked two maps, there were too many signs (or lack of them) that I may be on the abandoned bus stop. Nope, Google Maps and OpenStreetMap confirm it exists, and now I can see that a carrier’s website includes this bus stop in a route too. You can check it on your favorite maps: 03.152879°, 101.757442°. I’m still angry they did it to me.
I couldn’t give up and headed towards a nearby train station. It was a previous station on the route and I believed there can be no way buses skip a bigger station too. Ironically, right after I arrived, one more bus passed without stopping, making a random stranger frustrated! I just chuckled. And then we finally got into a better-behaved driver’s bus.
That’s what you should know about Kuala Lumpur buses.