Schoolbus group urges DBKL to fine-tune proposed free service

SEREMBAN, Dec 23 — The Coalition of School Bus Operators Association of Malaysia is concerned that Kuala Lumpur City Hall will be overwhelmed by its free bus programme.

Its president, Mohd Rofik Moh Yusoff, said City Hall must improve the logistics and safety measures in the programme, targeting children living in People’s Housing Projects (PPR).

More than 6,000 students from 60 housing projects are expected to benefit from the programme from January 3.

Rofik admitted he was sceptical about City Hall’s efforts in harmonising the project’s numerous “moving parts”, particularly logistics and safety.

“So far, 100 school bus operators have signed for the programme with more on the way but I’m concerned whether these operators are able to do the task at hand or even legally register with the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD),” he said.

“It might seem trivial but once they are registered it means the drivers are licensed to ferry students and their passengers are insured.”

Rofik said there should be an oversight body to ensure no conflict of interest among bus operators and their intended students.

“The buses or vans they use need to be registered with SPAD  to transport students only. They also need to wrap or paint their vehicles with the school bus motif to differentiate them from other bus services,” he said.

“This is to ensure the buses are intended only for  use  by PPR students. If they fail to do so, the operators could pick up paying students first early in the morning before heading to the PPR and if they are late they could just blame it on the traffic.”

Rofik said City Hall also needed to measure the capabilities of operators before telling residents they would be able to enjoy the service.

“They need to communicate more with the operators to establish they could service their intended routes and their designated PPR projects. This is important to ensure the best possible service,” he said.

“City Hall should not bite off more than they could chew by promising PPR residents free school bus service without knowing whether the operators would be able to enter the intended housing areas.”