Parents brace for rise in school bus fares

 

The school bus fare could go up by RM15 to RM25 a month in places like Damansara and Petaling Jaya. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: School bus operators have warned parents to brace themselves for an increase in fares.

Some school bus operators have already been informing parents to expect a fare increase.

However, Amali Munif Rahmat, president of the Federation of School Bus Associations Malaysia, told Bernama the increase would “not be burdensome”.

He said the new fare would depend on the area and “the status of the local community”.

he school bus fare can be RM50 in an area like Keramat in Kuala Lumpur or RM300 a month in ‘elite’ areas such as Damansara and Petaling Jaya,” he said.

He said the government had not been controlling school bus fares since the beginning of 2015 and allowed the market to decide the amount.

The new fares are expected to take effect next month or in July. The school bus operators say they have been faced with higher maintenance costs and costly vehicle spare parts.

School bus operator Zaid Zainuddin, 50, who services the Damansara area, said the fare increase could be RM15 to RM25 a month, considering that many school bus operators had folded up and switched to other jobs.

“So far, we have given the heads-up to the parents. We don’t want them to be caught by surprise. Some of them understand our plight.”

Another school van operator, Shahrul Aidit Ahmad, 48, who has been serving the Kelana Jaya area for 20 years, said the increase was unavoidable as the cost of maintenance and servicing the vehicles had doubled in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said the average fare is based on the distance from home to school of about 2-3km, with RM100 being charged every month for a return trip.

Malaysian Muslim Consumers Association chairman Nadzim Johan said the government should provide subsidies to school bus operators.

National Parents and Teachers Association president Ali Hasan suggested that the government set a ceiling price to ensure that fare increases are not made arbitrarily.

“The government also needs to think about providing subsidies, especially for regular users of school buses, who mostly consist of B40 (low-income) and M40 (middle-income) households,” he said. - FMT