A mauling for Penangs public transit
Moaz Yusuf AhmadPublished: Aug 9, 2007 4:34 PM | Updated: Jan 29, 2008 6:21 PM
RapidPenang began its launch period with great expectations from the majority of Penangites. After years of frustration with poor service, poorly maintained vehicles, selfish bus and taxi drivers and indifferent government agencies, Penangites are really ready to get out and enjoy a few good days of using public transit.
Of course, not everyone is happy with the arrival of RapidPenang. Penang civil society, long tired of government promises, welcomed RapidPenang with varying degrees of hope, suspicion, wariness and mistrust. Then there are the drivers and management of the other bus companies, who claim that RapidPenang, 100-percent backed by the Finance Ministry, was unfair competition. The taxi drivers complained that without government intervention, they would not be able to make ends meet and would be forced to turn to becoming hired cars.
Not much concern for the 'plight' of the operators. With support from the Finance Ministry, Rapid can operate bus routes that are service-oriented, rather than attempting to make profits. In fact, according to sources, Rapid has 50 percent of bus fares in KL subsidised, backed by the Finance Ministry.
The problem here is that the government has replaced a system of free competition with another system of competition, and this time, an unfair one. What is worse is this - the bus and taxi operators, already dealing with the near impossible challenge of trying to make money in a highly-competitive, unprofitable market, are being turned into scapegoats.
If asked for their opinions about the new 'plight' of the taxi drivers and bus drivers, I can bet that the majority of Penangites would not care very much. After 20 years of poor service, many have lost patience with the operators, and would be happy to see them go. I can understand this, having experienced the long hot wait for buses in Penang more than once.
Yet, when government ministers are critical of the bus operators, I get concerned. It is the government policies that have created this terrible situation. The government created the problem and they are responsible for fixing it. And most importantly, I don't think that a government official who spends all his time in a chauffeured car could ever understand the experience that bus passengers have faced over the past 20 years.
This never should have been allowed to happen. The sad thing is that this should never have happened. Public transportation in Penang should never have been allowed to deteriorate to this point. And those in the government who would taunt the bus operators and taxi operators, they should be aware that is was government policies and government inaction that created this terrible transit situation.
If there was ever a textbook case of why public transit should not be run as a competitive, privatised operation, it would be Penang. The system was based on competition. Drivers would rent buses for a daily fee and keep a share of the proceeds.
With money as a motivating factor, drivers would compete with each other for fares. Free competition led to price wars, which led to reduced profits. Reduced profits meant less money spent on keeping the buses clean and safe. It is not possible to operate reliable public transit service in such an atmosphere, and thus, customers withdrew in droves. The bus companies were reduced to seeking customers from an ever smaller pool of passengers.
During these 20 years of poor public transit, many grand ideas were trumpeted as being the solution for Penang. But even so, nothing happened because the competitive system was allowed to remain in place. Terrible competition replaced with unfair competition?
Now the government has come in with Rapid Bhd (Rangkaian Pengangkutan Integrasi Deras or Rapid Integrated Transport Network) a government-owned company with financial backing from the Finance Ministry.
Rapid, through its companies RapidKL and RapidPenang, will operate the majority of public transportation services in KL and Penang, and presumably in Johor Baru and Ipoh and other cities someday.
A government company backed by the Finance Ministry. Hardly a fair competition. Sure, the bus operators deserve to face something for what they have done to the people of Penang, but this is not discipline or punishment. This is a mauling.
Of course, not everyone is happy with the arrival of RapidPenang. Penang civil society, long tired of government promises, welcomed RapidPenang with varying degrees of hope, suspicion, wariness and mistrust. Then there are the drivers and management of the other bus companies, who claim that RapidPenang, 100-percent backed by the Finance Ministry, was unfair competition. The taxi drivers complained that without government intervention, they would not be able to make ends meet and would be forced to turn to becoming hired cars.
Not much concern for the 'plight' of the operators. With support from the Finance Ministry, Rapid can operate bus routes that are service-oriented, rather than attempting to make profits. In fact, according to sources, Rapid has 50 percent of bus fares in KL subsidised, backed by the Finance Ministry.
The problem here is that the government has replaced a system of free competition with another system of competition, and this time, an unfair one. What is worse is this - the bus and taxi operators, already dealing with the near impossible challenge of trying to make money in a highly-competitive, unprofitable market, are being turned into scapegoats.
If asked for their opinions about the new 'plight' of the taxi drivers and bus drivers, I can bet that the majority of Penangites would not care very much. After 20 years of poor service, many have lost patience with the operators, and would be happy to see them go. I can understand this, having experienced the long hot wait for buses in Penang more than once.
Yet, when government ministers are critical of the bus operators, I get concerned. It is the government policies that have created this terrible situation. The government created the problem and they are responsible for fixing it. And most importantly, I don't think that a government official who spends all his time in a chauffeured car could ever understand the experience that bus passengers have faced over the past 20 years.
This never should have been allowed to happen. The sad thing is that this should never have happened. Public transportation in Penang should never have been allowed to deteriorate to this point. And those in the government who would taunt the bus operators and taxi operators, they should be aware that is was government policies and government inaction that created this terrible transit situation.
If there was ever a textbook case of why public transit should not be run as a competitive, privatised operation, it would be Penang. The system was based on competition. Drivers would rent buses for a daily fee and keep a share of the proceeds.
With money as a motivating factor, drivers would compete with each other for fares. Free competition led to price wars, which led to reduced profits. Reduced profits meant less money spent on keeping the buses clean and safe. It is not possible to operate reliable public transit service in such an atmosphere, and thus, customers withdrew in droves. The bus companies were reduced to seeking customers from an ever smaller pool of passengers.
During these 20 years of poor public transit, many grand ideas were trumpeted as being the solution for Penang. But even so, nothing happened because the competitive system was allowed to remain in place. Terrible competition replaced with unfair competition?
Now the government has come in with Rapid Bhd (Rangkaian Pengangkutan Integrasi Deras or Rapid Integrated Transport Network) a government-owned company with financial backing from the Finance Ministry.
Rapid, through its companies RapidKL and RapidPenang, will operate the majority of public transportation services in KL and Penang, and presumably in Johor Baru and Ipoh and other cities someday.
A government company backed by the Finance Ministry. Hardly a fair competition. Sure, the bus operators deserve to face something for what they have done to the people of Penang, but this is not discipline or punishment. This is a mauling.
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