KUCHING: Septuagenarian Ng Pian Fook had the honor of being the first passenger to board the city’s first hydrogen bus service when it officially started operating at 7am today.

The 73-year-old marvelled at the comfort of the hydrogen bus travelling on the 14km Downtown Heritage loop, adding that he could now enjoy the sights around Kuching.

“I regularly use buses for my daily trips into town or anywhere else I would like to go, and I think that this new hydrogen bus is very good compared to the old buses which were quite unreliable – sometimes you had to wait up to two hours for the bus.

“In addition, the hydrogen bus service is free like the electric bus before this. Since I use buses almost every day, I hope that this bus service can be something that we can rely on,” Ng told The Borneo Post, adding that he was taking the opportunity to see some of the city’s iconic attractions on the Downtown Heritage loop.

The loop starts and ends at the bus stop in front of Riverside Majestic Hotel and has stops located along the Kuching Waterfront, Central Timur Road, Ban Hock Road, Kubah Ria and the Malay Kampung Heritage Area-Kampung Bandarshah 2.

Another passenger, Kevin Ngu, 30, explained that he had decided to use the hydrogen bus this morning to get a feel for the bus’ route as his usual commute to work was usually on foot.

“Before this (the hydrogen bus), I actually walked to work, which would have taken about an hour, so having this bus service feels great because the bus is comfortable, it is free and there is also free WiFi on board.

“I am trying out the hydrogen bus to get a feel for it and see the route first before I go to work later (this afternoon) because I want to use the bus daily to commute to work,” Ngu said.

Meanwhile, Tay Kok Fook, 39, was of the opinion that the hydrogen bus was a convenient transportation system and a new experience for Kuchingnites and tourists to try.

“I tried the electric bus before so I decided to try this new hydrogen bus, and I think that the hydrogen bus is great for the environment. I feel that it is actually quite convenient, and definitely a new experience for people to try.

“Previously, I did use the old buses but found them quite lacking in terms of facilities and it didn’t stop at every bus station, which was a problem for commuters,” he said.

Tay also expressed his hopes that the state government could continue to provide the hydrogen bus service free-of-charge in the future, as it could encourage more people to utilise public transport.

The hydrogen bus officially began operations today at 7am after it was launched by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg yesterday, travelling down two routes, namely the Downtown Heritage Loop and the Damai Loop.

The 67km Damai Loop takes passengers from Riverside Majestic Hotel before stopping at the Sarawak Museum, Satok Bus Station 1, Satok Bus Station 2, Petrajaya Bus Station 1, Petrajaya Bus Station 2, Damai Central Bus Stop 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 before going back to Riverside Majestic Hotel.

The bus service is a joint effort undertaken by the state Transport Ministry and Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) to promote a reliable, affordable, safe and eco-friendly public transportation system in the state.

The hydrogen buses also come equipped with the H2Sarawak mobile app created and developed by Sarawakian Melvin Ong from the web design company Karuna Sarawak.

According to Abang Johari, the app is the first in Malaysia to deploy a city-wide implementation of ‘Beacons’, which allows for push notifications of offers, promotions and historical landmarks.

It is also the first in the state to be integrated with Google Transit, which gives users real time schedules of bus arrival and connecting points, which Abang Johari said could pave the way for fully integrated routes and live scheduling of the Sarawak Public Transport System.