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PETALING JAYA: Konsortium Transnasional Bhd (KTB), which will suspend its Cityliner bus services in Selangor effective today, will only resume its services if the state government offers it a “lifeline”.

KTB executive director Tengku Hasmadi Tengku Hashim said losses incurred by the consortium were too massive for it to continue.

“We are losing about RM8mil a year in Selangor. We appeal to the state government to take the necessary measures to help us,” he told The Star.

Up to 80,000 commuters in Selangor will be hit by Cityliner's suspension of services.

Tengku Hasmadi said KTB had tried to engage with the Selangor government from as early as last year but had received very slow response and feedback.

“Our first letter was sent to the Mentri Besar (Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim) in May 2010 but we received no response at all.

“Our last letter to the Selangor government was sent on Nov 1 and we had received no response until Dec 1,” he said, adding that letters were also sent to the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD).

He said on Dec 1, KTB forwarded several proposals to Khalid and other officials in a meeting.

“They pledged to come back to us and we extended the bus service for 10 days (from Dec 1),” he added.

Tengku Hasmadi said the current model of stage bus operations, where a private or government-linked consortium wholly shouldered the responsibility of running the business, was not working out well.

“RapidKL is also facing losses but they have the benefit of using taxpayer's money to sustain their operations.

“This is not fair,” said Tengku Hasmadi, adding that such a practice smacked of double standards.

He said the Federal or state governments should subsidise the fixed low fares, which was one of the main reasons for the heavy losses. (The fares are fixed and controlled by the Government.)

“Bus fares have only gone up a mere 50 sen over the last 30 years but the price of diesel has gone up about 700%,” he pointed out.

Tengku Hasmadi said if the authorities felt that the stage bus service was essential but needed to be affordable, it has to be provided and funded by the Government.

Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) chief operating officer Azahar Ahmad said the commission was very concerned over the matter and would submit the necessary recommendations to the National Economic Council soon.

Selangor Investment, Trade and Industry Committee chairman Teresa Kok was not available for comment.

Meanwhile, Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd (Prasarana) expects to complete negotiations with two private bus companies to share routes and infrastructure in the Klang Valley within three months.

Prasarana group managing director Datuk Shahril Mokhtar said the doors were not closed for negotiations on possible collaboration with other bus companies plying Klang Valley routes.

“The mechanism of the collaboration is being worked out now,” Shahril said after signing a collective agreement with the RapidKL workers union yesterday.

The two private bus companies currently in negotiations with Prasarana, which operates RapidKL, are Setara Jaya Sdn Bhd and Syarikat Len Seng Sdn Bhd.

Shahril said SPAD was also working hard to assist by coming up with a viable code-sharing mechanism.

“For example, RapidKL has 12 buses plying the KL and Bukit Belacan route while another operator has 10 buses.

Read the full article:
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?fi ... sec=nation

KUALA LUMPUR: Bus passengers are feeling frustrated by the stage bus company Cityliner's decision to stop its services in Selangor from today.

Thousands of daily passengers, especially those who regularly commute on its routes from Kuala Lumpur to parts of Selangor, will be severely affected by the halt.

Many would be forced to switch to other forms of public transport.

Student Norfazmira Kamal, 19, said it would be a struggle to travel from home to university daily should the bus service come to a halt.

“I have no other choice but to take the KTM Komuter to go back home,” she said at Pudu Sentral here yesterday.

It was reported that Konsortium Transnasional Bhd (KTB), which owns the Cityliner company with 150 stage buses in Selangor alone, had been recording losses of RM8mil every year.

Assistant administrator, Suria Kasim (pic), 32, said it would take longer to commute from her workplace to her home in Klang.

“This is troublesome for passengers who take the bus daily. I would usually be home by 7pm if I take the bus. But now, using the train, I would be home much later than usual,” she said.

Read the full article:
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?fi ... sec=nation

PETALING JAYA: The Selangor government has refused to consider a request by Konsortium Transnasional Bhd to help keep KTB operations afloat.

This means KTB will indefinitely continue its suspension of 21 routes in the state.

Among the routes are the KLIA, Tanjong Karang, Sekinchan and Sabak Bernam.

Only four routes will operate, the Klang-Kuala Lumpur, Banting- Klang, Klang-Kuala Selangor and Banting-Kuala Lumpur.

KTB executive director Tengku Hasmadi Tengku Hashim said the consortium received a letter yesterday from the Mentri Besar's office that the state government had rejected its request for help.

KTB had requested the state government's help because its Cityliner stage bus service had suffered heavy losses due to alleged low fares fixed and controlled by the Federal Government.

He added that the consortium now hoped to get help from the Federal Government through the Land and Public Transport Commission (SPAD).

He said he was surprised by the state government's decision, which also put KTB in a difficult position to sustain its current workforce.

Meanwhile, Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said SPAD must solve the public transportation crisis, which left some 80,000 commuters stranded throughout Selangor.

He added that the issue revolved around cross-subsidy mechanisms by which the operating licence was issued to KTB.

A license was issued to KTB to operate its Cityliner bus services along profitable routes, which in turn would compensate local routes that are not profitable.

“This is the basis of the agreement when the licence was issued,” said Khalid.

He alleged KTB's request for a subsidy from the state government reflected the sorry state of privatisation in the country.

He added that it had deviated from its original intention of reducing government cost in the business and improving efficiency.

Read the full article:
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?fi ... sec=nation

A CITY bus service that is not only efficient but profitable remains, to a large extent, a pipe dream.

The litany of woes faced by operators of bus services in various cities and towns in the country is symptomatic of the fact that we do not take public transport, especially the bus service, as seriously as we should.

That thousands of residents in Selangor waited for the bus that never came following the suspension of the Cityliner services run by Konsortium Transnasional Bhd (KTB) yesterday is testimony to how serious the problem has become.

KTB's lament is that the current model of stage bus operations is simply not working out well. It is losing money big time and crying out for a lifeline.

In the interest of the ordinary people who depend on the bus to get around, the matter must be sorted out as soon as possible.

Whether it is due to a breakdown in communication, or hurt egos on any side, the interest of the rakyat must come first.

But this is only a short-term solution.

For the longer term, it is important that all bus operators sit down together and work out a strategic plan for the future.

Syarikat Prasarana Negara Berhad (Prasarana) has started an initiative for a strategic collaboration exercise with its competitors.

Its group managing director Datuk Shahril Mokhtar also agrees that the “present public transport industry faces tough economic circumstances due to regulated fare structure and increasing operational costs”.

It's a good start but for it to really work, all the players must be involved. They should see an efficient bus service in terms of the social benefits.

As Shahril puts it, “there must be enhanced punctuality, trip frequency and reliability ... to project a better image of the industry to the general public and effectively encourage high utilisation of public transportation”.

Those who have travelled to countries where the bus service is as efficient as any mass rapid transit system, will tell you how reliable and punctual the bus can be.

In some countries, if the bus is to arrive at 12.13pm, it means 12.13pm, not a minute more or less. Dedicated bus lanes ensure that buses run on time.

Here, we have piecemeal efforts, where even attempts to draw bus lanes, invariably lead us nowhere.

When we look at the Klang Valley, we know that the LRT system will never be complete without an efficient bus network.

The MRT players must seriously look into this as well.

Be that as it may, the current bus service, whatever its weaknesses, remains an important artery of livelihood for city folk.

Which is why you will see these buses jam-packed with commuters at certain hours, when ferrying commuters to and from work.

At other hours, it is not unusual to see a bus driver having the whole bus to himself, simply because not many people take the bus to get from one point to another.

It is important, therefore, to keep the buses running.

The Land Transport Commission (SPAD) must do the right thing for now while the operators work out the long-term solution.

Done right, the number of commuters will surely increase, and the money will flow in.

Read the full article:
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?fi ... sec=nation