Bus Service by Local Government

It was reported that proposal of local government providing bus service was suggested during the Dialogue Session for Preparing Selangor State Budget 2012 yesterday. The proposal is commendable and explorable further for its realisation. The Local Government Act 1976, Act 171 does not stop local government from providing such services. Nowadays, transportation and traffic is becoming major concern for many residents and main cause of degradation for quality living and pollution. Although the areas are covered by transit networks, but the service is disrupted due to lack of supplementary shutter service for ferrying people from their home to the station. On top of that, connectivity, accessibility and affordability of public transportation is having large room for improvement.

Local Government can operate the bus service plying major transit points and town centre for preventing more private vehicles from entering the city centre. This service can then be extended to other parts of the town. If local government is worried about managing the fleet of buses, then perhaps for a start, local government can negotiate with the existing bus companies for extending the area of coverage and increase the frequency of services. Of course, to subsidise for the service if the companies are reluctant to do so is unavoidable. Providing services to the residents is part and parcel of service delivery by local government although some might said the transportation service is under the prelude of Land Transport Commission. To me, if a particular local government can and able to provide the service for the sake of overcoming the problem of traffic, then why not? Penang Municipal Council is doing that and recently Penang State Government followed suit providing shuttle service from Seberang Prai to the Bayan Lepas Industrial Zone are two classic examples.