The decision of the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) to scrap the ceiling price for school bus fares starting January next year, leaving it to ‘negotiations’ between parents and bus operators, received mixed reactions from the public.

Lotfi Ismail, a homemaker, said that the move would only make bus operators increase the bus fares and that is unreasonable.

“The bus fares is already high at the moment. I pay RM45 for my child’s bus fare and her school is less than one kilometer from my house.

“Giving the negotiation power to the parents and the bus operators is a good move but its effectiveness is another story. This is because, some bus operators may not agree with the parents and this will cause problems. At the end of the day, parents have no choice but to rely and trust bus operators to send and return their child safely,” she told Astro AWANI.

Sujenthiran Rajagobal said that if SPAD’s move would cause the bus fare to increase, it would be a burden to parents.

“It would be difficult for parents especially those with a few kids. I have three children and I pay RM80 each for their bus fares. If they increase the bus fare even by RM20, I would be paying RM300 just for bus fares alone.

Meanwhile, Tamilarasan Karapiah from Ampang said if the ceiling price is scraped and the bus fare increases, it will be only manageable if the increase is proportionate to the fuel price hike.

“However, if it leads to exorbitant profit taking than its not proper. See, we don’t know what makes up to that rate, its quite arbitrary.

“A school van would have different cost structure to a bus etc, therefore, market forces should take precedence however adequate responsibility must be exercised on the part of service providers,” said the Senior Group Finance Manager.

On Friday, SPAD chairman, Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar said the new approach will enable parents, schools and bus operators to determine the fares.

"We (SPAD) as the observers will ensure that none of the interested parties take advantage by imposing excessive prices.

"If this happens, action to cancel the operating licences can be done under the Land Public Transport Act.”

He hoped the 15,000 legal school bus operators nationwide will not make the fare increase an issue anymore.