Parking convenience for long haul public transport in Perai
Travelling far away but headache to find a good parking spot?
This article is great for those who resides in Seberang Perai and wants to travel outstation by public transport but troubling to find a good place to park.
I often travel to Kuala Lumpur or "KL" in short form for shopping vacation by using my own Proton Persona due to its large body and best in class "Lotus" handling.
Cruising on highway with small size car especially hatchback is very dangerous and when accident occur the passenger inside will suffer severe injury due to less protection from the car minimal crumple zone.
That is why I am still keeping my 11 year old car to serve me as a long journey transport and occasionally going back hometown despite having a new Perodua Axia.
However, 2 months back I decided to take public transport to go KL than driving as sitting inside a car with hand on the steering wheel for 4 straight hours require a lot of concentration while avoiding serious accident.
There are 3 methods to go to KL by using public transport that is either electric train, inter-state bus or flying.
I never fly to KL before due to unfamiliar location of the airport and taking public transport from the airport back to KL is also a mess.
At first I am planning to take the ETS train but the scheduling is not very convincing and the fare is somewhat expensive.
To book the cheapest ticket at RM58, I and my wife will have to take the ETS as early as 5am in the morning and latest at 9pm during night time.
Other than these specific time will cost RM77 per single trip and I consider at this price range is not very reasonable for me. (from Bukit Mertajam station to KL Sentral station)
So both of us will need to fork out RM288 just to go to KL compared to travelling by our own car that only cost around RM180.
Parking in BM KTM train station is also very hard as the carpark is full most of the time due to its place which require no parking fees at all.
Then we decides to take long journey express bus as our last resort and next, comes this havoc situation to find a good place to park my car.
There is only one place in BM to take on the express bus service located at Taman Usahaniaga and there are 3 counters here providing many express bus schedules to different destinations within Malaysia.
The express bus company that I prefer the most is Super Nice coach due to their up to date fleet with big and comfort seats and fares from BM to KL is RM42. (including fees for ticket seller)
Next, we go in to the main topic here which is also regarding parking.
For those who are familiar with BM town area will know there is ample of parking space behind the row of ticket counter shop so parking is quite convenient but unfortunately for safety wise is the problem that is most commonly neglected.
Because this place is not guarded, therefore I concerned of some thievery at my car during night as the place is also very silent during that time.
If lets say I park my car here and stagnant at the same place for overnight then I might taking chances to lure thief to come to steal off my wheels or battery as these 2 items is very common for them to sell.
Not so convincing parking here and meanwhile for parking rates is forty cents per hour from morning 6am to night 9pm.
So means per day I will need to fork out RM6 of parking fees and scratching 15 pieces of parking tickets.
If 2 days? 30 pieces of parking tickets will need to be displayed all over my dashboard.
On that day, we have taken "Grab" from our house to the embarking point here in the morning and the express bus to KL arrived earlier that scheduled.
Then something came to my suprise! The driver have taken me back to the route to my housing area and pass through there to Simpang Ampat to another express bus ticket counter.
This ticket counter is just a normal resident house at Taman Jentayu located opposite Caltex petrol station beside the old trunk road from Ipoh to Butterworth.
And the parking space is also quite convenient located just beside the house with many surrounding residential housing to keep an eye on it as seen as the picture above.
Since I also live nearby here I should have first choose this place as my point for express bus to go to KL.
But coming back from KL to Penang is not convenient as normally bus express only drop off in two destinations in Penang either Butterworth or Sungai Nibong in island.
Perhaps, we can separately request them to drop off in our prefered location?
For those who live in Butterworth area can opt to take express bus service in two different locations:
There are only 2 counters here just next to the entrance to the 24 hours multi-level car park.
For parking wise, there is a multi-level car park available for 24 hours, 365 days a year and the rate is RM20 if overnight in addition to the basic RM2 per entry.
That means parking here today and drive out tomorrow would incur a charge of RM22 while 2 days parking there will be RM42.
The second and which also is the last choice is the infamous Penang Sentral northern transportation hub which combining of various kind of public transport services like city bus, inter-state bus, taxi, train and ferry to island under one roof.
This new terminal was just unveiled to public in November 2018 and I had visited this place in December to compare between the situation before it was open and after.
Before this new building was opened, the old bus terminal was situated outside the new building and the environment was quite uncomfortable to passengers.
For parking wise, here actually is very convenience and affordable to people where 1 day rate is only RM12 with ample of parking space available.
This old car park is just located outside the Butterworth KTM station and within walking distance to the old bus terminal.
But all of these had become history as currently this old parking lot has been closed and no longer available to the public to make way for future development.
Now all these old bus terminal and parking had shifted to the new building.
The first level of this new building is partitioned into 2 areas, left wing is for the city bus and right wing is for the inter-state bus.
City bus passenger waiting area at the first floor of the new building left wing
Inter-state bus passenger waiting area at the first floor of the new building right wing
Access down into these 2 areas is only from the second floor escalator and if you needed to go down to the inter-state bus passenger waiting area will require a valid bus ticket as the escalator to this area is guarded by securities.
At second level, there is a consolidated bus ticket counters for inter-state bus service on the right wing.
While left wing I can find a taxi pick up area and a bridge linking to the ferry terminal.
Access to the KTM train is at back of the bus ticket counter to take lift to go down to ground floor to some alley and this is just temporary.
The new bridge linking to the KTM train station is still under construction and access can be found at the same bridge linking to the ferry terminal.
Up another level found a very nice balcony to have a very beautiful sea view towards Penang island just right beside "Bintang"bucks.
Now here comes the important part which is also regarding parking.
The new Penang Sentral parking is located at level four until level seven and big enough to accomodate up to 600 cars.
Parking rate wise is only by hourly as per picture below and I can say there is no longer daily rate available here.
So means parking now for a full 24 hours will cost RM25 which is a whopping 100% increase from the previous parking lot.
That's all about the new Penang Sentral terminal which I accidentally covered and this is just only phase one where upcoming project will include some residential and commercial building.
My destination for drop off in KL is Terminal Bersepadu Selatan or TBS in short as this is the only bus station and I can say that this place is located far away from KL city centre.
The old Pudu bus terminal has been closed for quite some time and that place is in the heart of KL city centre.
I also wasted the entire 6 hours travelling time as TBS is located far south from the KL city centre and the bus will need to navigate through the heavy traffic in order to get to this place.
As my favourite accomodation is always Bukit Bintang so going from the old Pudu is actually very near compared to the current TBS in Bandar Tasek Selatan.
This new place will need me to take LRT that cost RM3.20 per trip back to the KL city centre and exchange point in Hang Tuah to Bukit Bintang with monorail.
I successfully arrive in Bukit Bintang at 3:30pm to check in hotel.
The only thing that I like about TBS is this bus terminal contains many ticketing counters consolidating various bus companies to choose from.
So I can just approach any counter that is vacant and purchase any bus ticket that I want.
Few days later I am heading back to Penang Sentral and taking city bus back to my home as KTM train is full most of the time due to late booking for ticket.
In conclusion, travelling from Penang to KL with public transport is not easy as cost and time will need to be taken into consideration.
Since the bus terminal in KL have shifted to a new place then going to KL by bus is very time consuming compared to train but cost is cheaper.
Going by train is very convenience as it will stop at KL sentral which is a centralize train station with exchange point to a lot of routes covering major places in KL and Selangor but ETS train fare is quite expensive unless waking up very early morning to take on the earliest trip at 5am at a very cheap cost.
Not to mention finding some parking at a good area to convenience ourself with reasonable parking rate and safety concern.
So what will you choose if you are about to taking public transport to go to other place and at the same time finding a nice parking?
Penang Sentral (bus and train)
Pros: Ample parking space, covered multi-level building, CCTV and guarded, bus and train at one location
Cons: Extremely expensive parking rate
Chai Leng park (bus only)
Pros: Ample parking space, covered multi-level building
Cons: Not guarded, expensive rate
BM Usahaniaga (bus only)
Pros: Public friendly parking rate provided by municipal
Cons: Exposed to sun and rain, not gated and guarded, prone to thievery
BM KTM station (train only)
Pros: Free parking, gated parking area
Cons: Space always run out, exposed to sun and rain, not guarded
Simpang Ampat (bus only)
Pros: Free parking with minimal public surveilance
Cons: Little parking space, exposed to sun and rain, very far from crowded city area
Here, I would like to post additional part to recommend some very nice food and I for sure will visit this stall each time we go to KL.
This is a Indonesian style food stall located at first floor inside Central Market exit at Masjid Jamek LRT station.
They sell many types of mee and sup at an affordable price and the taste is extremely delicious.
Opening time is from 11:00am until 10:00pm daily and be sure to have a visit at least once when you have a chance to go to KL here.
Thanks for reading and if you have anything to say then please feel free to leave it down in the comment section below or continue to read about my next article about my luxurious spa treatment HERE.
Travelling far away but headache to find a good parking spot?
This article is great for those who resides in Seberang Perai and wants to travel outstation by public transport but troubling to find a good place to park.
I often travel to Kuala Lumpur or "KL" in short form for shopping vacation by using my own Proton Persona due to its large body and best in class "Lotus" handling.
Cruising on highway with small size car especially hatchback is very dangerous and when accident occur the passenger inside will suffer severe injury due to less protection from the car minimal crumple zone.
That is why I am still keeping my 11 year old car to serve me as a long journey transport and occasionally going back hometown despite having a new Perodua Axia.
However, 2 months back I decided to take public transport to go KL than driving as sitting inside a car with hand on the steering wheel for 4 straight hours require a lot of concentration while avoiding serious accident.
There are 3 methods to go to KL by using public transport that is either electric train, inter-state bus or flying.
I never fly to KL before due to unfamiliar location of the airport and taking public transport from the airport back to KL is also a mess.
At first I am planning to take the ETS train but the scheduling is not very convincing and the fare is somewhat expensive.
To book the cheapest ticket at RM58, I and my wife will have to take the ETS as early as 5am in the morning and latest at 9pm during night time.
Other than these specific time will cost RM77 per single trip and I consider at this price range is not very reasonable for me. (from Bukit Mertajam station to KL Sentral station)
So both of us will need to fork out RM288 just to go to KL compared to travelling by our own car that only cost around RM180.
Parking in BM KTM train station is also very hard as the carpark is full most of the time due to its place which require no parking fees at all.
"Yeap! No need to pay for parking here and if you can find a parking spot here then you are very lucky"
Then we decides to take long journey express bus as our last resort and next, comes this havoc situation to find a good place to park my car.
There is only one place in BM to take on the express bus service located at Taman Usahaniaga and there are 3 counters here providing many express bus schedules to different destinations within Malaysia.
The express bus company that I prefer the most is Super Nice coach due to their up to date fleet with big and comfort seats and fares from BM to KL is RM42. (including fees for ticket seller)
Next, we go in to the main topic here which is also regarding parking.
For those who are familiar with BM town area will know there is ample of parking space behind the row of ticket counter shop so parking is quite convenient but unfortunately for safety wise is the problem that is most commonly neglected.
Because this place is not guarded, therefore I concerned of some thievery at my car during night as the place is also very silent during that time.
If lets say I park my car here and stagnant at the same place for overnight then I might taking chances to lure thief to come to steal off my wheels or battery as these 2 items is very common for them to sell.
Not so convincing parking here and meanwhile for parking rates is forty cents per hour from morning 6am to night 9pm.
So means per day I will need to fork out RM6 of parking fees and scratching 15 pieces of parking tickets.
If 2 days? 30 pieces of parking tickets will need to be displayed all over my dashboard.
"prffftttttt"
On that day, we have taken "Grab" from our house to the embarking point here in the morning and the express bus to KL arrived earlier that scheduled.
Then something came to my suprise! The driver have taken me back to the route to my housing area and pass through there to Simpang Ampat to another express bus ticket counter.
This ticket counter is just a normal resident house at Taman Jentayu located opposite Caltex petrol station beside the old trunk road from Ipoh to Butterworth.
And the parking space is also quite convenient located just beside the house with many surrounding residential housing to keep an eye on it as seen as the picture above.
Since I also live nearby here I should have first choose this place as my point for express bus to go to KL.
"Next time perhaps?"
But coming back from KL to Penang is not convenient as normally bus express only drop off in two destinations in Penang either Butterworth or Sungai Nibong in island.
Perhaps, we can separately request them to drop off in our prefered location?
For those who live in Butterworth area can opt to take express bus service in two different locations:
- Chai Leng Park
- Penang Sentral (new upgrade from the old ferry terminal)
There are only 2 counters here just next to the entrance to the 24 hours multi-level car park.
For parking wise, there is a multi-level car park available for 24 hours, 365 days a year and the rate is RM20 if overnight in addition to the basic RM2 per entry.
That means parking here today and drive out tomorrow would incur a charge of RM22 while 2 days parking there will be RM42.
The second and which also is the last choice is the infamous Penang Sentral northern transportation hub which combining of various kind of public transport services like city bus, inter-state bus, taxi, train and ferry to island under one roof.
This new terminal was just unveiled to public in November 2018 and I had visited this place in December to compare between the situation before it was open and after.
Before this new building was opened, the old bus terminal was situated outside the new building and the environment was quite uncomfortable to passengers.
For parking wise, here actually is very convenience and affordable to people where 1 day rate is only RM12 with ample of parking space available.
This old car park is just located outside the Butterworth KTM station and within walking distance to the old bus terminal.
But all of these had become history as currently this old parking lot has been closed and no longer available to the public to make way for future development.
Now all these old bus terminal and parking had shifted to the new building.
The first level of this new building is partitioned into 2 areas, left wing is for the city bus and right wing is for the inter-state bus.
City bus passenger waiting area at the first floor of the new building left wing
Inter-state bus passenger waiting area at the first floor of the new building right wing
Access down into these 2 areas is only from the second floor escalator and if you needed to go down to the inter-state bus passenger waiting area will require a valid bus ticket as the escalator to this area is guarded by securities.
At second level, there is a consolidated bus ticket counters for inter-state bus service on the right wing.
While left wing I can find a taxi pick up area and a bridge linking to the ferry terminal.
Access to the KTM train is at back of the bus ticket counter to take lift to go down to ground floor to some alley and this is just temporary.
The new bridge linking to the KTM train station is still under construction and access can be found at the same bridge linking to the ferry terminal.
Up another level found a very nice balcony to have a very beautiful sea view towards Penang island just right beside "Bintang"bucks.
Now here comes the important part which is also regarding parking.
The new Penang Sentral parking is located at level four until level seven and big enough to accomodate up to 600 cars.
Parking rate wise is only by hourly as per picture below and I can say there is no longer daily rate available here.
So means parking now for a full 24 hours will cost RM25 which is a whopping 100% increase from the previous parking lot.
That's all about the new Penang Sentral terminal which I accidentally covered and this is just only phase one where upcoming project will include some residential and commercial building.
"OK. Last about my KL journey"
My destination for drop off in KL is Terminal Bersepadu Selatan or TBS in short as this is the only bus station and I can say that this place is located far away from KL city centre.
The old Pudu bus terminal has been closed for quite some time and that place is in the heart of KL city centre.
I also wasted the entire 6 hours travelling time as TBS is located far south from the KL city centre and the bus will need to navigate through the heavy traffic in order to get to this place.
As my favourite accomodation is always Bukit Bintang so going from the old Pudu is actually very near compared to the current TBS in Bandar Tasek Selatan.
This new place will need me to take LRT that cost RM3.20 per trip back to the KL city centre and exchange point in Hang Tuah to Bukit Bintang with monorail.
I successfully arrive in Bukit Bintang at 3:30pm to check in hotel.
The only thing that I like about TBS is this bus terminal contains many ticketing counters consolidating various bus companies to choose from.
So I can just approach any counter that is vacant and purchase any bus ticket that I want.
Few days later I am heading back to Penang Sentral and taking city bus back to my home as KTM train is full most of the time due to late booking for ticket.
In conclusion, travelling from Penang to KL with public transport is not easy as cost and time will need to be taken into consideration.
Since the bus terminal in KL have shifted to a new place then going to KL by bus is very time consuming compared to train but cost is cheaper.
Going by train is very convenience as it will stop at KL sentral which is a centralize train station with exchange point to a lot of routes covering major places in KL and Selangor but ETS train fare is quite expensive unless waking up very early morning to take on the earliest trip at 5am at a very cheap cost.
Not to mention finding some parking at a good area to convenience ourself with reasonable parking rate and safety concern.
So what will you choose if you are about to taking public transport to go to other place and at the same time finding a nice parking?
Penang Sentral (bus and train)
Pros: Ample parking space, covered multi-level building, CCTV and guarded, bus and train at one location
Cons: Extremely expensive parking rate
Chai Leng park (bus only)
Pros: Ample parking space, covered multi-level building
Cons: Not guarded, expensive rate
BM Usahaniaga (bus only)
Pros: Public friendly parking rate provided by municipal
Cons: Exposed to sun and rain, not gated and guarded, prone to thievery
BM KTM station (train only)
Pros: Free parking, gated parking area
Cons: Space always run out, exposed to sun and rain, not guarded
Simpang Ampat (bus only)
Pros: Free parking with minimal public surveilance
Cons: Little parking space, exposed to sun and rain, very far from crowded city area
Here, I would like to post additional part to recommend some very nice food and I for sure will visit this stall each time we go to KL.
This is a Indonesian style food stall located at first floor inside Central Market exit at Masjid Jamek LRT station.
They sell many types of mee and sup at an affordable price and the taste is extremely delicious.
Opening time is from 11:00am until 10:00pm daily and be sure to have a visit at least once when you have a chance to go to KL here.
Thanks for reading and if you have anything to say then please feel free to leave it down in the comment section below or continue to read about my next article about my luxurious spa treatment HERE.
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