KUCHING: Stage bus operators and school bus service providers will have to wait a while longer to know if their request to raise bus fares will be approved.
The state’s Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board (CVLB) deputy chairman Datuk Peter Minos told reporters that the board was still considering their requests.
“We will sit and get reports from public members whether the increase is reasonable. If reasonable, we will consider.
“We need to fully consider all the factors before we can decide. This is an important issue as we have to consider the public and the various associations. Once we get all the opinions and views, then we will decide,” he said, when met on the sidelines during the appreciation dinner organised by City Public Link Bus Service Sdn Bhd here on Sunday night.
However, he did not elaborate on when the next CVLB meeting would be to discuss the requests.
Last month, school bus operators in the state submitted a request to the CVLB to raise their fares by 40 per cent, to emulate their counterparts in the peninsula.
The Union of Sarawak School Bus Associations president Sawoi Anee was quoted as saying they had no other option, but to increase the fare in view of escalating cost of spare parts, tyres and petrol, among others, which have greatly affected school bus operators.
Last November, Sarawak Bus Transport Companies Association had also submitted a request to raise bus fares for stage bus services to sustain operations.
Chairman Lau Khing Seng told the media in December that bus companies providing stage bus services may have to discontinue unprofitable routes to cope with rising costs of fuel, wages, spare parts and batteries.
He pointed out that fares have not been reviewed since 2009, whereas the cost of fuel had risen some 18 per cent since 2009 and the implementation of the minimum wage policy pushed up the cost of wages by 110 per cent.
The association is proposing a fare hike of 16 sen for the first three 3km for air-conditioned stage bus and an increase of two sen for every subsequent kilometre.
If approved, the new fare will be RM1.20 for first 3km from RM1.04, and 20 sen for every subsequent km from 18 sen.
Meanwhile, on another matter, Minos revealed that the board has not received any new applications to operate public bus services in Kuching city.
“Not yet. The application is open, we will consider on their merits,” he said.