Bus drivers courting danger by doing longer hours to make a living
PARLIAMENT | The long hours worked by express bus drivers is among the main factors leading to fatal accidents nationwide, according to Deputy Transport Minister Kamarudin Jaffar.
Kamarudin told the Dewan Rakyat today that these drivers have to compensate for their low wages by working extra hours to make a living.
"The express bus drivers receive on average less than RM3,000 a month, after adding up basic salary and allowances," he said...
PARLIAMENT | The long hours worked by express bus drivers is among the main factors leading to fatal accidents nationwide, according to Deputy Transport Minister Kamarudin Jaffar.
Kamarudin told the Dewan Rakyat today that these drivers have to compensate for their low wages by working extra hours to make a living.
"The express bus drivers receive on average less than RM3,000 a month, after adding up basic salary and allowances.
"What we should not encourage is for them to work more than eight hours a day," he said during the question-and-answer session.
"Another factor leading to bus accidents is the service quality of these express buses, which is not as good as those in other countries."
With this in mind, Kamarudin said, Putrajaya is considering allowing an increase in bus fares in the hope of improving drivers' wages and service quality.
However, he stressed, any increase in the fares would be reasonable, so as to not overly burden passengers.
The Transport Ministry, he added, is currently in talks with bus operators, who are asking to be allowed to increase fares by up to 30 percent.
"The government previously allowed a 31 percent increase in bus fares from 6.5 sen per kilometre to 8.5 sen per kilometre.
"Subsequently, a 0.8 sen per kilometre surcharge was imposed since 2015. With this, bus fares increased 9.3 sen per kilometre until today," he said.
According to him, express buses were the most popular form of public transport for Malaysians to travel around the country.
"Sixty percent of the travellers use express buses, while 26 percent travelled by domestic flights and 14 percent by rail," he said.
"On average, more than 100,000 passengers use express buses operated by 175 companies using 2,613 buses," he said.
