School bus subsidies can reduce traffic congestion

 

There are many reasons for urban roads becoming increasingly congested. When traffic volume on the roads increases, it slows down traffic flow, causing delays to all travellers caught on that road as well as roads beyond the next junctions and subsequent ones.

In other words, the volume of traffic on a particular road has actually exceeded the road capacity causing the overall traffic speed to decline.

How do we then deal with the increase in the traffic volume and at the same time, try to manage road congestion?

A couple of common solutions is to expand the roads by adding another lane or improving the junction layout by adding extra lanes for left turning traffic.

But it can also be expensive and often it takes a long time to be implemented. Also, due to the lack of road reserves (space), it often results in cases where nothing can be done at all.

A strategy to increase road capacity may not be a wise long-term solution to solve road congestion. Perhaps, switching to mass public transport, if there is such an alternative, could be a better long-term solution.

But not all places in this country are equipped with LRTs or MRTs. This is where school buses could be effective, although school buses on their own are limited in terms of roles, functions and market base.

School operating hours are short which makes the vehicle utilisation low, thus restricting its revenue generation potential.

Unless the transport ministry allows the operators to use the same vehicle to serve the general public, for the first and last mile operation, then the school bus fleet will remain underutilised.

This is another point to be examined and to seriously consider.

School bus subsidy

An effective method that has been proven in many developed countries, is to subsidise school buses. This is a new concept in Malaysia and has not been done before.

But it has proven to be a very effective way to stop parents from taking their cars to ferry their children and contributing to the increase in traffic volume and road congestion.

My experience in traffic planning, from traffic survey data undertaken in the Klang Valley and several other major towns and cities, has shown that about 30-35% of the morning and afternoon traffic is associated with school trips.

Countrywide traffic surveys have shown substantial reduction in traffic volume during term breaks and school holidays. This reduction was observed during the morning, afternoon and evening peaks.

When parents no longer have to drive their kids to school during that period, roads generally become quieter and less congested. But once schools reopen, the traffic volume increases and most roads get congested once again.

Behavioural aspect

Parents who own cars are reluctant to put their children on school buses and incur additional costs in school bus fares, perceived as expensive. They are also worried about the safety of school buses.

With school bus fares set to increase again this month, it will be much harder to convince parents to put their children back on the bus.

Most car-owning parents will not switch and their children have become used to being driven to school.

This behavioural observation is common among urban families and yet most of them express unhappiness over traffic congestion without actually realising that they themselves are one of its major contributors.

School bus subsidies could alter this perception and also their mindset.

When implemented correctly, especially in meeting the various aspects of children’s safety, comfort and short waiting times, it will definitely lead to reduced traffic volume and less congested roads.

This subsidy strategy has also been suggested by the Parent Action Group for Education for some time but the transport ministry and related agencies have yet to respond seriously to the matter.

How it should work

The implementation of such a strategy, for it to be successful, must be supported by other departments and ministries, such as the schools, education ministry, local authorities, road transport department (JPJ) and the police.

The subsidy can be done in the form of school bus vouchers given to parents by schools for each child to pay a school bus operator, who will claim payment from the local authorities.

The local authorities must be funded by the federal government. An alternative could be to use a portion of road tax collected by JPJ to be used for this purpose and paid directly to local authorities.

There are about 16,000 school bus operators who need to continue to survive.

If the government wishes to assist school bus operators and is also serious about reducing road congestion, and at the same time want to promote road safety among school going children, then the school bus subsidy is an excellent way forward.

The B40 and M40 families should become the government’s target groups, irrespective of race, colour or creed. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.