What do we know about Perak Transit?

Combined Bus Services Sdn Bhd (CBS) is supposed to be a consortium made up of 9 bus operators in Ipoh, down from 14 as first announced. The main proponent of CBS is Ipoh Omnibus.

The funny thing is that there are actually only 2 bus operators providing local bus services in Ipoh – Ipoh Omnibus and Perak Roadways – with Ipoh Omnibus covering most parts of Ipoh. Ipoh Omnibus has a near-monopoly of bus services in Ipoh. Perak Roadways operates on certain routes with high passenger count. The others are bus operators operating from Ipoh to other towns in Perak and does not actually provide local bus services.

Ironically, CBS resisted Perak Roadways’ attempt to join them although it was announced that all bus operators in Ipoh are free to join. Perak Roadways appealed to the Menteri Besar and state government and caused considerable havoc which delayed the (re-)award of the Ipoh Sentral Transport Hub to CBS. It was first awarded to CBS during Pakatan Rakyat’s rule but held back when BN took over.

Perak Roadways is a Bumiputra company while the others are Chinese-owned and racial insinuations were made. There were several meetings between CBS, Perak Roadways, the State Exco in charge of public transport (Dato’ Dr Mah Hang Soon), Unit Perancang Ekonomi Perak and the State Secretary to try to iron out the matter.

Ipoh Omnibus dominates Ipoh’s bus services as the owners are politically well-connected to MCA (one of them is an advisor to MCA and the father of a world-famous actress from Ipoh). They also operate the Sri Maju express bus services based in Ipoh which is part owned by Perak royalty. The owners own other bus operators as well, such as Reliance Omnibus operating between Ipoh and Kuala Kangsar. The owners also own the present bus station for local bus services and to smaller towns in Ipoh. Perak Roadways has their own terminal nearby.

As everyone knows, public buses in Ipoh are old and dilapidated. Almost all are non-air conditioned although the fare is the same as air conditioned buses. Public buses in smaller towns such as Teluk Intan are in much better condition compared to Ipoh, newer with air conditioning and even using driver-operated ticket dispensers.

Routes are planned to follow areas where there would be many passengers. So certain areas in Ipoh do not have any bus services at all. In many places, people have to walk 1 km or more without shelter to reach the bus routes. This problem is due to the (non-)planning and development of residential areas in Ipoh by the Ipoh City Council.

There was a bus operator which operated another service between Ipoh and Kuala Kangsar and their permit was not renewed due to political pressure from Ipoh Omnibus. Many passengers including me preferred their buses as they were newer, wider and more comfortable. JPJ even put up a sign that said that the bus operator does not have a valid permit and people are advised not to board their buses for their own safety.

The main problem with bus services in Ipoh is that it is dominated by one bus operator with strong political connections with MCA and Perak royalty. This has enabled it to ignore people’s grievances and complaints.

PS. I think the pink bus in the picture is the one used by Reliance Omnibus for the Ipoh-Kuala Kangsar route since last year. As such, it would be in KK during the launch. Nobody can miss it because there is only one ugly all-pink bus in the whole of Ipoh.