Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) announced that private stage bus companies will be able to bid for routes via an open tender system from April.
The routes in Negri Sembilan, Pahang and Perlis are expected for firms to bid over. It includes Port Dickson, Bentong and Perlis.
This system is said to be modelled after London's public transport model; where an authority would tender routes to private firms and make sure that standards were met.
Further details of the tender include: some high-traffic routes may be operated by two bus firms, have to follow strict schedules to prevent service clashes and Government-owned transport companies such as Prasarana would not be part of the tender unless it was necessary.
[KVMRT: Obviously SPAD has put an end of monopoly for lucrative routes that been a problem. It is also a better plan than just bailing out private bus firms, e.g Cityliner in Negri Sembilan.]
