KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 27 ― The government is considering a 10 to 30 per cent increase for express bus fares in hopes that this will result in better drivers, said Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Kamarudin Jaffar.
Replying to a question by Kapar MP Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid (PH), Kamarudin told the Lower House today that among the reasons that Malaysia has so many bad express bus drivers is the low wages which forces them to work more than eight hours a day just to claim overtime.
“The reason behind the accidents and low quality bus drivers when compared to other countries is due to their low salary. Their average take home income is around RM3,000 including their allowance.
“They don't have a good working environment either and we discourage them from working more than eight hours. That's the reason the quality of their driving has gone down. That's why we are considering raising the bus express fares in a reasonable manner.
“If the express bus service operator earns more, they can raise the drivers' salaries and the drivers have better working conditions... we hope their service and quality will improve, leading to fewer accidents,” said Kamarudin.
The last time the government reviewed and increased express bus fares was in 2009 with a 31 per cent increase to 8.5 sen per kilometre from 6.5 sen per kilometre.
In 2015, the government had also implemented a surchage of 0.8 sen per kilometre. This led to the current price of 9.3 sen per kilometre.
Kamarudin also said he was aware of the pressure from express bus operators to increase their fares in light of the tough economic conditions but at the same time the government must also consider whether or not the passengers can afford it.
Malaysians who use public transport generally come from the B40 and M40 groups, with 60 per cent preferring to use express buses, especially during the festive seasons, for medium and long journeys.
There are around 100,000 passengers who use the express bus service on a daily basis.
