Hino Motors Sales (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (Hino) and Rapid Bus Sdn Bhd (Rapid Bus) is continuing trials with the Hino Poncho compact bus. The routes for the new trial run are in more challenging routes in and around Kuala Lumpur and also in Penang. This comes after a successful initial 2 month trial run for routes aroud Petaling Jaya in 2019. The 7-meter low-floor Hino Poncho minibus is Hino's solution for transport accessibility in tight and narrow roads and this second trial in Kuala Lumpur, commencing from early October 2021 to the end of April 2022, will cater to route T180 – from Taman Dato’ Senu to Chow Kit, and route 302,which is from Titiwangsa to KLCC. As for Penang Island, the Poncho will cater to route 11 which is from Pengkalan Weld to Batu Lanchang, and route 201 which caters for Pengkalan Weld to Tingkat Paya, Terubong.
So more Malaysians will get to try out the actually very compact and unique looking Hino minibus. In Japan, there are more than 2,000 units Hino Poncho in operation. The Poncho is designed to be a transport solution for the community in terms of ‘first and last-mile’ travel in a commuter's journey.
Hino Poncho’s comparatively short 7-meter length makes it easy to navigate through narrow city roads. It has a short front and rear overhang as well as a short wheelbase. This gives the bus a small turning circle of only 7.7m. and adds to the ease of driving in such tight road conditions. The ability of Poncho to access narrow city and residential roads that longer buses cannot, gives bus operators the possibility of expanding to new routes. These new routes will allow operators to cover more areas thus helping to reduce the first/last mile challenge faced due to inaccessibility of current buses at these routes. Note that tight inner-city streets as well as double parked residential areas could be accessed easier by a minibus than a full sized city bus.
One added benefit of the Poncho is that its low floor design makes it easier to board for senior citizens, children, and wheelchair bound passengers. According to Rapid Bus Chief Executive Officer, Muhammad Yazurin Sallij, their first trial in Klang Valley from October 2019 - March 2020, showed that the Hino Poncho was able to serve their passengers better and the small size of the bus enabled it to easily manoeuvre in and around smaller residential areas as well as improvise resource utilisation through the improvement of the load factor.
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 added.
HINO PONCHO 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. The 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
The 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.
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