KLUANG, Oct 16 — The state government spends about RM30 million each year to run a free bus service known as Bas Muafakat Johor (BMJ) to ease the burden of the people in the state.

Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi said that since the BMJ began operating in 2016, about 12 million passengers in the designated routes have benefitted from the service.

He said that the free bus service, which began in four local authority (PBT) areas around Iskandar Malaysia, now operates in all 16 PBT areas in Johor, involving 69 routes, with the latest being from Renggam to Kluang.

"We plan to add more routes according to demand from the public. Soon, we intend to add one more BMJ route from Bandar Maharani to Jorak, which is in the Muar district,” he said during a visit to the Simpang Renggam parliamentary constituency here today.

He explained that the BMJ service would also be expanded to act as a shuttle bus for the convenience of the people to travel to two hospitals in the state, namely Sultanah Aminah Hospital (HSA) and Sultan Ismail Hospital (HSI) in Johor Bahru.

This, he said, was to reduce congestion at both hospitals, in addition to reducing the people’s dependence on private vehicles to get there.

"The state government will, together with the Johor Public Transport Corporation (PAJ), ensure this initiative continues to be relevant in the future. This initiative is given free to Malaysians, whereby they only need to show their identification card to get on board,” he said. — Bernama