Bus consortium gets 100 permits approved

KUCHING: The common vision to see a fleet of brand new buses on the city’s streets is getting clearer now that the Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board (CVLB) has approved 100 permits to a consortium, Kuching City Bus Services Sdn Bhd (KCBS), yesterday.

KCBS director of general affairs Dino Bidari said that prompt reaction from the CVLB would result in the new buses being put on the road by early next year.

“In just two days, we have already received 100 permits and our hope now is to see similar fast approval of our loans from SME Bank. If the bank works as fast as CVLB, then we can have the new 35-seater buses on the road by early next year,” he told a news conference here yesterday.
According to Dino, the consortium would inform the bank of this (permit) approval in the hope that the loan approval process would be expedited. It is understood that a 35-seater bus could easily fetch over RM200,000.

Dino also commended CVLB chairman Fadillah Yusof and his staff for a job well done, proof that it was supportive of KCBS efforts to enhance public transportation here.

Meanwhile, KCBS had submitted a transport master plan, which involves stage buses, taxis, chartered vehicles and school bus services in the city to the authority, he said.

The master plan touted the need for interchanges, three if possible, that would assist in relieving traffic congestion in the city.

Dino said that KCBS had already identified an area for the interchange - near 3rd Exchange Commercial Centre - and was still looking for two others. They had identified a tentative site in the Kubah Ria area.

“Chartered vehicles coming from the villages will off load their passengers at the interchange, before they (passengers) board another bus going to the city.”

“This (interchange) will reduce, if not eliminate, traffic congestion, and will prove convenient for passengers as there will be better frequencies given the shorter distance travelled by the buses,” he explained.

Dino said the consortium would also talk with associations of taxis, chartered vehicles and even school buses to see if the plan was feasible, and also see if there were any changes to be made to improve it.

Meanwhile, KCBS director of administration William Chan said that the master plan had been discussed with the State government, which seemed happy that the consortium was looking into restructuring the whole city transport system for the better.

However, for this to happen, everybody had a part to play, he said. Besides the interchange, KCBS was also requesting for a transport hub to integrate everything. Chan said that Kuching City North Commission (DBKU) had pointed out that the traffic flow in the city would soon change given the many on-going projects there, and that it would have to relocate the chartered vehicles waiting area.

“DBKU has not identified a place yet but we have found a suitable location to house all public transport operators, which would be similar to Kuala Lumpur Central,” he said.

However, all these would be subject to approval from the relevant authorities, and also agreement of all parties concerned, he added.

He revealed that KCBS would also be doing a market survey to identify the best mode that would take shorter time for the new buses to operate by.

The Borneo Post