Your Best Modes of Payment for LRT/Monorail

Effective from 2 December 2015, all the Prasarana rail services including LRT and KL Monorail Line follows a new distance-based fares structure. Commuters now have 4 modes of payment which include token, cashless (i.e. Touch n Go, My Rapid card), MyRapid Smart 7 weekly and MyRapid Smart 30 monthly. You get different discount under different types of payment. Despite of bigger discount for Smart 7/ Smart 30 users, you should be aware of a regular premium charged on these two packages. The question comes next would be which mode of payment is the cheapest way for those who commute to work using LRT and monorail.

[Tip 1]: The set of four new fare structures released by Prasarana can be found here .

[Tip 2]: A premium fee of RM 2.50 is charged for "MyRapid Smart 7 Weekly" which is valid for 7 consecutive days whereas a premium fee of RM 10.00 is charged for "MyRapid Smart 30 Monthly" with validity of 30 consecutive days.

In general, you enjoy more discount when your mode of payment goes from token => cashless => Smart 7 => Smart 30. Nonetheless, it is not necessary that Smart 30 that provides most discount suits you the most. Let us now introduce a simple method to calculate the most suitable mode of payment for you together with examples.

Assumptions

The calculation is on monthly basis.

Average number of working days per month: 22 days

Example 1:

From Gombak to KLCC

Note: Monthly premium charged for Smart 7 is RM 2.50 x 4 = RM 10

Based on the calculation table above, the cheapest monthly fee is RM 133.20, i.e. for those who travel from Gombak to KLCC, Smart 30 would be your best option. 

Example 2:

From Wangsa Maju to KLCC

Note: Monthly premium charged for Smart 7 is RM 2.50 x 4 = RM 10

Based on the calculation table above, the cheapest monthly fee is RM 118.80, i.e. for those who travel from Wangsa Maju to KLCC, Touch n Go/ Rapid card would be your best option. 

As you can see, Smart 30 might not be the best option for all the users. You would be able to identify which option is the best for you by following the calculation method above.

With the increase in price of public transport, we hope this small life hack could help save some  of your money.