Federation of School Bus Associations Malaysia president Amali Munif Rahmat urged parents in the Klang Valley especially to prepare for a rise of between RM10 and RM20 a month. He said the increase was unavoidable.

Amali said the implementation of the minimum wage of RM1,500 in July last year and a rise in prices for imported spare parts, partly exacerbated by the weak ringgit, were to blame.

“For this increase in fares, there have been requests from operators, but the association can only offer them guidelines and advice. It all depends on their profit and loss situation.

“It also depends on the consensus between school bus operators and parents,” he told FMT.

The government stopped regulating school bus fares in 2015, with operators allowed to set their own rates for their services.

However, Putrajaya has been subsidising diesel for registered school buses since 2017, at RM1.88 per litre. The retail price of diesel is currently RM2.15.

Amali said a RM10 to RM20 increase would still be rather low, considering how one student would ride the bus about 44 times in a month.

“Parents shouldn’t think that the increase is a random amount, but calculate it based on (students’) daily use. For example, if we raise the fares by RM20, it’s only an increase of 90 sen per day, and that is affordable.”

He also said several bus drivers had complained about parents refusing to pay the full month’s fares if there are two weeks of school holidays within that month.

“Our income is not based on the daily or weekly journeys, but we are paid based on the school sessions,” he said, adding that drivers had to cover the costs of operations the whole year and mandatory maintenance every three months.