Hino Poncho Comes Into Network Expansion In Kl And Penang

After their successful first trial run for two (2) months in 2019, Rapid Bus continues another two trials with Hino Poncho in Kuala Lumpur and Penang city.
This 7-meter low-floor minibus meets its role as a solution for transport accessibility in tight and narrow roads area.

Kuala Lumpur, October 2021 – Hino Motors Sales (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (Hino) and Rapid Bus Sdn Bhd (Rapid Bus) will continue its trial in more challenging routes in Kuala Lumpur, after successfully completing its first trial run for two (2) months in 2019.

The 7-meter low-floor Hino Poncho minibus offers a solution for transport accessibility in tight and narrow roads. The second trial in Kuala Lumpur, commencing from early October 2021 to end of April 2022, will cater to route T180: Taman Dato’ Senu ~ Chow Kit, and route 302: Titiwangsa ~ KLCC.

Making its trial debut in the Penang Island, Hino Poncho will cater to route 11: Pengkalan Weld ~ Batu Lanchang, and route 201: Pengkalan Weld ~ Tingkat Paya, Terubong.

CONVENIENT ACCESSIBILITY (FIRST AND LAST MILE CONNECTIVITY) AND WIDER AREA COVERAGE (NETWORK EXPANSION)
In Japan, there are more than 2,000 units Hino Poncho operating in the busy city roads and quieter residential areas. This bus is designed to match the most innovative community transport solution and be the solution to cater the ‘first and last-mile’ travel.

Hino Poncho’s short 7-meter length makes it easy to navigate through narrow city roads. Its short front and rear overhang and wheelbase also give the bus a small turning radius of 7.7m, adding to the ease of driving in such tight road conditions.

The ability of Poncho to access narrow city and residential roads that the current longer buses cannot, gives bus operators the possibility of expansion of new routes. These new routes can cover more areas, especially residential areas, thus helping to reduce the first/last mile challenge faced due to inaccessibility of current buses at these routes. Its low floor design makes it easier to board for senior citizen, children, and wheelchair bound passengers.

“Based on our first trial in Klang Valley from October 2019 - March 2020, Hino Poncho was able to serve our passengers better and the small size of the bus enables it to easily manoeuvre smaller residential areas and improvise resource utilisation through the improvement of the load factor.” said Rapid Bus Chief Executive Officer, Muhammad Yazurin Sallij.

He also pointed out challenges faced by the normal 10-meter to 12-meter buses such as haphazard parking by private vehicle owners at the side of the roads that cause longer bus trips and delays to passengers’ journey.

“We have been working together on our past collaboration to run this Hino Poncho in 2019 and we see the impressive result of our first trial run that cater to route T784: LRT Taman Bahagia ~ Damansara Utama and route T20: LRT Gombak ~Wira Damai Hub,” said HMSM Managing Director, Atsushi Uchiyama.

“Thank you to Rapid Bus for trusting our product and agreed to continue using Hino Poncho services to enhance the public transport connectivity here in Malaysia. I believe this second trial run with Rapid Bus will meet their expectation especially on the effectiveness of connectivity, access and cost-efficient factors. We are excited to see Hino Poncho trial expanding to other states especially in Penang island,” he continued

- FACT SHEET -
COST-EFFICIENT & ENVIRONMENTAL-FRIENDLY VEHICLE
Hino Poncho’s small size makes it an ideal solution for operations in low ridership areas. Its small and compact engine consumes less fuel compared to the larger size buses in the same navigating routes, making its operation cost lower than larger buses. This will lead to greater profitability for the bus operators.

This low-floor minibus is equipped with Euro-V engine, common-rail fuel injection system and 5-speed fully automatic transmission. These specifications make Hino Poncho a fuel-efficient vehicle that can help keep operational costs lower than the longer and larger buses.

Its Euro-V technologically-advanced diesel engine provides improved engine performance for acceleration, better fuel economy, and reduce harmful emission. Hino Poncho is also equipped with Diesel Particulate Reduction (DPR) system – an after-treatment system that significantly reduces particulate matter. This feature is different to other current Euro-V vehicles where Hino Poncho does not require any additional fluid such as AdBlue urea fluid, which eventually leads to savings of operating cost and maintenance time for the customers.

PASSENGER-FRIENDLY FEATURES
Hino Poncho is famous for its passenger-friendly features and the most common one is its low and full flat floor that allows passenger to move in and out easily. Hino Poncho is designed with vehicle height adjusting system that has vehicle height lowering and raising control. The height can be lowered down by 50 mm which will ease further the boarding or alighting of passengers at bus stops. It is very convenient for senior citizen, children, and wheelchair bound passengers to enter and exit the bus. Hino Poncho’s full flat floor feature allows a large standing capacity space where passengers only need to climb steps to sit in the last row of seats.

Download press release PDF here for more detail