LAST year, I wrote a letter describing the huge challenges awaiting the public transportation sector this year.

I predicted a time when oil and fuel prices would rise to record levels, making it impossible for the government to maintain fuel subsidies.

However, things have not turned out as expected.

Granted, oil prices have risen to levels never before imagined, increasing costs for transport operators, food suppliers and the people.

But while the government is aware that the subsidy on petrol, diesel and natural gas is economically devastating, they have made a political decision not to reduce the petrol subsidy this year.
At the same time, plans are in place to reduce the supply of subsidised diesel, so that it can be made available to public transport operators and fishermen.

It is at this point that we must take a closer look at the public transport operators, especially bus operators. We should listen to what they are saying.

Since the government did not invest in rail infrastructure early on, many of us will be relying on these bus operators in the near future, as prices continue to increase.

The Pan Malaysian Bus Operators Association is asking for an increase in bus fares and a greater subsidy on diesel fuel to cover their increasing costs. This is a reasonable request. What is unreasonable is if these increased bus fares result in increased profits.

There is no way that these companies should be allowed to raise their fares and increase their profits unless they move away from the leasing system, hire and train more drivers and fire dangerous drivers.

Konsortium Transnasional Bas (KTB) chairman Datuk Nadzmi Salleh is calling for a revamp of public-transport bus operations in Malaysia. He believes that the industry should be for private operators only and the government should keep out of the industry because government-subsidised operators like RapidKL and RapidPenang are creating unfair competition.

Nadzmi also proposes that a single public transport authority be created to streamline and simplify public transportation regulations.

Currently, there are many problems because of existing bureaucracy. Regulations, permits, enforcement and planning are done separately, by different government ministries. Nadzmi believes that improvements in service and efficiency can be found if these government departments are streamlined.

I do agree with him about the bureaucracy in the industry. I have also called for the creation of a National Public Transport Authority (NPTA) to centralise urban and inter-city public transportation. The NPTA could be responsible for the planning, financing, standards and regulations of public transportation.

The Local Public Transport Authorities (LPTA) could be empowered by the NPTA to carry out these improvements at a regional and local level.

However, I do not agree with the current government model which suggests that all public-transport services -- from taxis to urban, school, inter-city and factory buses -- are the same. Unlike Nadzmi, I believe that urban transport operators like RapidKL and RapidPenang should receive subsidies from the government. These operators are providing an absolutely vital service and they help fuel the country's growth.

Inter-city transit, while very important to the Malaysian economy and the lives of the rakyat, is not as important as urban transport.

I would recommend that the capital and operations subsidy scheme currently offered to RapidKL and RapidPenang by the Finance Ministry be extended to all urban bus operators.

This would both relieve the pressures that these operators face due to increased costs, while the presence of the NPTA and LPTA would ensure that the operators provide urban public-transport services that work in the interests of the public.

I do agree that the government should allow bus operators to raise fares. I agree that inter-city bus operators and other public transport operators should also have some subsidy from the government.

However, they must realise that they do not have the same role as urban transport operators, and so they should not receive the same level of subsidy.

It must also be clearly and absolutely stated that no bus operator should be allowed to continue using the leasing system, overuse and abuse their drivers, or hire dangerous drivers. The public is tired of bus crashes and dangerous, reckless drivers.

If bus operators allow these practices to continue, it will not matter how much subsidies they receive from the government, because they will lose many of their customers.