School bus fares to increase?

SHAH ALAM - The Federation of School Bus Associations Malaysia confirms that school bus fares for the new school term in March are expected to increase.

Its president Amali Munif Rahmat said the hike occurred due to the increase in the cost of operation and maintenance of machinery, especially in urban areas, especially the Klang Valley.

"There may be a price increase for the new term but I am not sure how much it will be because it varies according to the operators themselves and they have to take into account the business margin and the current situation," he said when contacted by Sinar on Sunday.

Amali said one of the factors that forced the fare to be increased was that vehicle spare parts were expensive and more than 80 percent of spare parts are imported from outside.

"The price of spare parts used to be RM100, but now it has gone up from RM120 to RM150, and the cost is also based on monthly maintenance.

"We also need to change the black oil and also need to see how far the bus travels every month, that's why I said the operation of each operator is not the same, and some operators even have to pay for parking or they will be sued," he explained.

Amali said the fare increase was based on the area and operating costs after the government no longer controlled school bus fares and it followed the market since January 2015.

"The association can only give advice and guidelines to the operator that will take into account and depend on the review of the profit and loss statement, in addition to the consensus of the parties with the parents," he said.

Commenting further on the method so that parents were not burdened with the increase, Amali suggested that a free school bus system should be introduced by the government as implemented in some developed countries such as Australia and Britain.

"The only way to reduce the burden on parents as a result of this increase is for the government to bear the cost of school fares as was done in Kuala Lumpur involving the areas of the Public Housing Project (PPA) and the People's Housing Project (PPR).

"For instance, those who live and own houses in PPA and PPR, their children who go to government schools will automatically be registered with the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and are entitled to free school bus service for daily trips to and from home," he said.

It is understood that this system was started six years ago involving more than 100 school bus operators in the capital.

"Even in Miri and Kuching, Sarawak, this method has already been started which is managed by the local authorities (PBT) with the fare cost of each student borne by the PBT in the area concerned," he said.