On 10 April, the Malaysian government announced the 2nd extension to the Restricted Movement Order (RMO) where all Malaysians have to continue working from home until 28 April. During this RMO period, Malaysians are allowed to travel out of home for essential and medical purchases only. However, there are some rakyat who depend on other means of transportation to help them travel to these essential destinations.
For those who do, there is no need to worry as the public transportation system and several car-sharing platforms have taken strict measures to clean, disinfect and apply measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19. These practices are also similar to the practices in Carsome, where our employees in the inspection centers will be armed with masks and sanitizers and follow a strict SOP on good hygiene practices.
Public transport
Rapid bus and train (Prasarana)
Rapid has taken proactive steps to minimize the risk of exposure to its passengers and staff since early February 2020. For example, all Rapid depots across the country including that in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Kuantan, Kamunting, Manjung and even the BRT service in Sunway (operated by Prasarana) have implemented daily body temperature checks for all staff including bus captains and management, as well as providing masks to all bus captains. Furthermore, all busses are cleaned both outside and in, with daily sanitization to the seats, poles, hand grips and key touch points.
On the Rapid rail end, preventive measures are implemented on all services including the LRT, MRT and Monorail. Focus is on disinfecting the areas which are commonly held by passengers – poles, hand grips, seat corners and more. The frequency of the disinfection is also increased during peak hours.
On top of that, social distancing procedures have been applied, with the company placing advice notices on alternate seats throughout trains.
Prasarana have also taken steps to include safety and preventive information and videos, as well as hand sanitizers on all stations and frequent cleaning routines to cover areas like escalator handles, lifts and ticket machines before and after operation hours.
The Rapid buses and trains have restricted operations hours from now until 28 April 2020
| Day | Time | Frequency |
| Monday to Friday | 6 am to 7 am | Every 30 minutes |
| 7 am to 9 am | Every 10 minutes (Peak hour) | |
| 9 am to 10 am | Every 30 minutes | |
| 5 pm to 7 pm | Every 10 minutes (Peak hour) | |
| 7 pm to 10 pm | Every 30 minutes | |
| Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays | 6 am to 10 am | Every 30 minutes |
| 5 pm to 10 pm | Every 30 minutes |
Note:
- There are NO train services from 10 am to 5 pm daily.
- FINAL train service at 10 pm and all LRT, MRT and Monorail stations will be closed. Please plan your journey to avoid getting stuck outdoors.
Grab
Since the beginning of RMO, Grab has announced their continued services across the brand – food, mart, delivery and transport. To minimize physical contact, they have recommended customers to go cashless with Grabpay and introduced a ‘Ride Cover’ policy to include coverage for Covid-19 for an additional fee.
The brand also introduced a car-based delivery service, subsidized masks for their drivers and implemented contactless deliveries. There have been recommendations by Grab to their drivers to sanitize their vehicle and delivery bag regularly, check their own temperature twice a day, and clean the seat, seatbelt and door handles with sanitizer after dropping off a passenger. For more precautionary measures, we at Carsome have also provided safety tips that can be used for e-hailing drivers, passengers and food delivery riders during these challenging times.
With the extension of the RMO, Grab’s operation hours have been tweaked to follow the latest regulations:
- GrabCar – 6 am to 10 pm with one passenger per car.
- GrabFood – Service hours differ from city to city. More info in the app.
- GrabExpress – 8 am to 8 pm with the last booking at 7.30 pm.
Car-sharing platforms
GoCar
Just before RMO, GoCar announced its GoClean campaign to advocate car-hygiene and encourage community cleanliness amongst their users. Their aim is to provide its users with a comfortable and hygienic driving environment, with every driver encouraged to keep the cars clean before it goes to the next user. The brand has now included antibacterial wipes with Benzalkonium Chloride in the glove box of each car for users to wipe down the steering wheel, seats and handles. This provides a preventive measure for each user to take and prevent the spread of the illness.
Additionally, there are reminders on the windscreen of all GoCars to ensure the cleanliness of the vehicle, with reimbursements given to users who bring the car to a car wash before returning it via GoPocket Points.
GoCar is still operational during RMO and has encouraged users to follow movement guidelines and restrictions.
SOCAR
The car-sharing platform is still in operation and available for users and those working in the essential services sector should they require to move around during RMO. Users are assured that their cars are regularly cleaned and sanitized as the hygiene of their cars have always been their priority. Furthermore, they also encourage their users to clean up after themselves, making it clean for the next user.
For users who are residing in one of the 12 major coverage areas across Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang and Johor Bahru, the brand says that customers may opt for their car delivery service called Socar-2-You, delivering a ride to their doorstep.
For additional measures in disinfecting your car, read Carsome’s tips on what you should use and the areas to focus on when cleaning the interior.
Petrol stations
Shell
Shell Malaysia has announced that it has taken extra steps to ensure customer safety during the RMO. Apart from tracking and monitoring the health of all Shell site staff, personnel will be fully equipped with face masks, nitrile hand gloves and will comply to social distancing guidelines. For the consumer end, high-touch areas like petrol pumps, fuel nozzles, pin pads, dispenser air balancers, door handles, pay windows, cashier area, switches, taps and more will be sanitized and disinfected at its 950 stations nationwide.
As for food and store safety, Shell has implemented hourly sanitization of coffee machine touch screens, Deli2go countertops, pastry tongs and showcase handles. Restroom cleaning frequencies have also been increased hourly with steps to ensure water and soap are always available, and social distancing markers placed in the stores and pay window areas.
Read below for more stories!
If you are an e-hailing driver, passenger or food delivery rider, follow these Covid-19 safety tips to keep yourself safe during this period.
Be safe and follow basic protective measures against Covid-19.
To better provide more flexibility for customers, Bank Negara Malaysia has implemented a six month deferment for loans. Click here to find out more.
If you are looking to sell your car, you can now schedule bookings with Carsome from 19th April 2020 onwards for free inspection slots beginning 29th April 2020.
