Stage bus saga

TMM,Tuesday, August 16th, 2011 

PJ: Towards better public transportation 

Poor service has always been the main complaint against buses. Irregular frequencies, overloading and failure to stop to pick up passengers are some other common bane faced by commuters. 

Looking back, the industry itself has long been plagued by pilferage, corruption, wastage, discourtesy, internal squabbling and politics. 

Stage buses operate in all cities, towns and other populated areas nationwide. Combined, they transport more passengers than all other buses, taxis and trains put together. 

As such, the efficiency of stage bus operations has an enormous impact on the nation's productivity and quality of life for those dependent on their service. 

Are problems besieging the industry due to lack of good ideas and equipment? If so, they can be solved by acquiring proven methods and technologies without having to reinvent the wheel. 

However, if it is due to human problem, a change of mindset or personnel would be necessary. Continuing more of the same would not resolve any problems, as unhealthy work practice and culture are deeply embedded and entrenched. 

Pilferage is one good example. Bus conductors find ingenious ways to rake in a portion of the fares collected by them and bus inspectors are paid to close their eyes. 

One-man operation (OMO) buses were then introduced with a cash payment machine installed next to the driver. It may have saved the cost of a conductor but pilferage still continue. 

In countries with efficient bus operations, payment is cashless, resulting in swift boarding and reduced journey time. 

In Malaysia, passengers have to wait for the bus to arrive and wait in queue for boarding which can take several minutes, as some tend to fumble when paying cash. At the same time, the bus may be obstructing traffic. 

As such, investing RM35 million to install the cashless bus ticketing system in buses of a major company operating 165 routes and covering 980 housing estates in the Klang Valley is certainly a step in the right direction. 

It is one of the 11 initiatives under the National Key Results Area (NKRA) for Urban Public Transport (UPT) and incorporated in the Government Transformation Plan (GTP) Roadmap. 

However, the pilot project was suddenly rolled back and old cash machines quickly refitted when the new cashless machines, which have proven to be reliable, mysteriously did not perform consistently in some buses. 

In the end, instead of tackling the menace of machine tampering, the management was swift in reverting to status quo. 

Machines are tampered with for various reasons. A taxi meter is rigged to collect higher fares. Tampering of the biometric registration machines by several 6P amnesty programme management companies will generate misinformation on data protected by the Official Secrets Act. 

Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) chairman Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar rightly announced in a recent press conference that issues of public interest, including public transportation, should not be politicised. 

However, SPAD must be bold in its implementation and execution. It must be prepared to deal with those in both the public and private sectors keen to maintain status quo and will go all out to sabotage any new implementations. 

Switching the bus machines to cashless and cash again may be the tip of the iceberg but the final decision taken will give a clear indication of the direction the industry is heading. 

If we continue to flip-flop at every resistance to change, then the same old saga of our stage buses is unlikely to end anytime soon. 

YS Chan 

Kuala Lumpur