KUALA LUMPUR, May 24 — Only about 68 per cent or 112 of the 164 express bus operators in Peninsular Malaysia monitor the speed limit of their vehicles respectively through the installation of GPS devices.

The Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) which conducted audits on the installation and monitoring of GPS devices on the companies recently, found that only 57 companies had installed such devices on all their express buses, 27 companies had installed in more than 50 per cent of their buses and 23 companies in about 50 per cent of their buses.

“The remaining 52 express bus companies, however, are still operating without GPS or any other speed limit monitoring tool,” the commission said in a statement today. Following this, about 600 express bus permits of 107 companies will be suspended with effec June 7 until the installation of GPS is completed, the statement said.

SPAD said a time period would be given before the suspension of the vehicles’ permits so that operators involved can complete the GPS installation to avoid disruption of services.

Suspending the operator’s licence or vehicle’s permit is based on violation of standards set under the SPAD-Industry Code of Practice (SPAD-ICOP) Safety as well as a licensing conditions introduced on August 20 last year.

The audit also found that of the 112 companies, only 27 were monitoring the bus speed limit by GPS from a control room comprehensively and continuously over 24 hours, 22 companies were monitoring from the control room but not continuously and 63 companies had no GPS monitoring.

Among other weaknesses identified in the audit was the lack of willingness expressed by bus operators to monitor the speed limit of their vehicles and this attitude needs to be changed immediately, the statement added.

Some companies only installed the GPS devices to meet licensing requirements, it said.

“There are also companies which only monitor during office hours alone, although most of the company’s buses operate during the night.”

Consequently, SPAD said operators are urged to give serious emphasis on monitoring speed limits, safety management, driver and vehicle maintenance, besides displaying the company’s hotline number for use in an emergency. — Bernama