'Mystery shopper' to audit services at Prasarana RapidKL stations

KUALA LUMPUR - Selected commuters using the RapidKL public transportation can now conduct independent auditing on the RapidKL train services main hub under AKSES or the Mystery Shopper Readiness and Station Standby Audit Committee.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong said selected volunteers, after registering using the Pulse application, can proceed to audit the services at the Light Rail Transit (LRT), Mass Rail Transit (MRT) Monorail and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT),

"This is part of the evaluation process. First, the station managers will make their evaluation and followed by the Prasarana Group which was specifically given the mandate to observe and verify if station managers had over-assessed or given overly high points or otherwise.

"We will look at the assessment in terms of the accuracy of the evaluation. This process involves a third party, that is the Mystery Shoppers which we selected based on transparency, we will ask more people to participate in the programme and collectively we will carry out an audit and I want to make sure that the facility provided is beneficial to the public who use the train services daily,” he said at a press conference on the AKSES Programme here today.

He said besides self-evaluation by the station manager, independent evaluation by the Mystery Shopper would enable Prasarana to give confirmation (verification) to the self-audit and then receive views and suggestions for improvement to improve the user experience among public transportation users.

Earlier, six panelists comprising Rapid KL public transport users conducted an independent audit for the Mystery Shopper program organised by Prasarana and conducted for the first time today, conveyed their views in a discussion session attended by the Group Chief for Health, Safety, Environment and Infrastructure Sustainable Development, Idzqandar Abu Bakar, Rapid Chief Executive Officer Amir Hamdan and Rapid Bus Chief Executive Officer Muhammad Yazurin Sallij Muhammad Yasin.

The main purpose of the initiative is to gather transparent views from passengers who experience the services offered by Rapid KL. Their responses would help Rapid KL to improve its services for the comfort and convenience of all.

Prasarana established AKSES to ensure that the facilities offered to public transportation users are at the optimal level when using the services offered by Rapid KL.

AKSES involves the act of comprehensive quarterly self-audit by station managers at all 147 train stations and 10 bus hubs focussing on cleanliness, access to facilities, lighting, facilities, sign boards, lifts and escalators.

AKSES' first audit was conducted in August this year and the findings showed that 74 per cent of the stations are in good condition while the average performance evaluation was 2.82 per cent out of 3.00. - BERNAMA