RESIDENTS in Taman Permai, Taman Duyung and Taman Oakland have been left stranded as the bus service to the residential areas has stopped since May 30.
They now have to pay more in taxi fare to reach to their destinations such the schools, hospital and market.
The bus company, Seremban Town Service (STS), which serves the residential areas hourly, has stopped the service because of poor passenger load.
Frustrated: Residents waiting at the bus stop in Taman Permai I to flag down passing taxis. Image courtesy of The Star.
Mary Theresa, 82, who works in Kemayan Square, now walks 2km to her working place if she fails to flag down a taxi.
“It used to cost me just a ringgit by bus but now I have to fork out RM8 for a taxi or RM2 if I am able to share the fare with three others.
“I am only a casual worker and cannot afford to travel by taxi,” said Theresa from Taman Permai I.
Chin Ah Teng, 65, from Taman Permai II, said he had missed out on his hospital appointment once waiting for the bus because he did not know the service had stopped.
Chin said last month he called for the taxi and was charged RM8 for a one-way trip to the hospital and an additional RM2 for the call charges.
“Imagine having to fork out RM18 just for a trip to the hospital and back. This is a financial burden for senior citizens,” he said.
K. Vijayakumari, 59, said most of the residents in Taman Permai were middle-class families who were without their own transport and had to depend on the bus service.
However, Mary Josephine, 55, and Ng Ah Siew, 61, have been offering to send residents if they are heading to town in the morning and appealed to the authorities to solve the transport issue soon because school children are also affected.
“This should be a social responsibility by the bus company. It is a pity to see children walking to school for the past two months,” said Josephine.
SMK ACS student Hoo Kar Ken, 16, said it was easier going to school than coming back unless he shared a taxi with others heading in the same direction.
“The fare used to be 60sen one way by bus but it is three times more now by taxi,” said Hoo.
Bukit Kepayang assemblyman Cha Kee Chin said STS should be more considerate towards the residents and resume service.
Cha said he had contacted the bus company but was told that the services would resume by the end of July.
“It is August now and there is a long silence from the bus operator. I have had discussions with City Liner and they have promised to look into my request,” added Cha.
Cha said he had even raised the matter at the state assembly on Monday as the residents especially the senior citizens and school children have been inconvenienced for too long and the mentri besar had promised to look into the problem.
He also pointed out that since the Seremban Municipal Council was subsidising the bus company servicing residents in Nilai and Pajam, they could also extend the same privilege to the residents in these areas.
5 replies on “No bus for you! Company stops bus service to three housing estates in Seremban”
like I’ve said before, business depend on demand. since we got relatively cheap oil and free parking, people wont shift from private vehicle to public. we cannot blame the operators 100%, operation of public transport consume very huge cost while the earning is not that much. when this case happen, the low-income people will suffer.
so mid-income people need to be forced to use public transport by make the using private vehicle unreasonable for them to use daily. probably gov can do like what Singapore do. implement ERP, pay parking, higher road tax. then, the demand will grow.
maybe it is time for the local council or state government to intervene. Or they are all too busy with politics. in the end, the rakyat loses, as more and more public bus operators cut costs.
@Jerping
Some public transport services in Negri Sembilan receive subsidy from the government. There is a call to extend that subsidy to the areas mentioned in the article.
@Sepol
The government has invested a great deal of national revenue to make cars & driving appear to be cheaper than using public transport. There are actually three solutions for this imbalance: withdraw the funding that makes driving cheap, add additional costs to make driving more expensive (as you suggested) or invest money into public transport.
Which solution is best? Perhaps a combination of the three?
Regards, Moaz for TRANSIT
I’d rather Malaysia have a cheap and very affordable and efficient right on time public transport system rather than driving. Unfortunately, this is not the scenario for the moment and I doubt that it will happen any sooner. Maybe we will see after at least ten generations in the future. That is also a very conservative estimation.
[…] The complaints of the residents were highlighted in a recent article in the Star Metro as well as a post by TRANSIT. Bus service to housing estates resumes (Star Metro) By CHARLES […]
Transit Malaysia 
5 replies on “No bus for you! Company stops bus service to three housing estates in Seremban”
like I’ve said before, business depend on demand. since we got relatively cheap oil and free parking, people wont shift from private vehicle to public. we cannot blame the operators 100%, operation of public transport consume very huge cost while the earning is not that much. when this case happen, the low-income people will suffer.
so mid-income people need to be forced to use public transport by make the using private vehicle unreasonable for them to use daily. probably gov can do like what Singapore do. implement ERP, pay parking, higher road tax. then, the demand will grow.
maybe it is time for the local council or state government to intervene. Or they are all too busy with politics. in the end, the rakyat loses, as more and more public bus operators cut costs.
@Jerping
Some public transport services in Negri Sembilan receive subsidy from the government. There is a call to extend that subsidy to the areas mentioned in the article.
@Sepol
The government has invested a great deal of national revenue to make cars & driving appear to be cheaper than using public transport. There are actually three solutions for this imbalance: withdraw the funding that makes driving cheap, add additional costs to make driving more expensive (as you suggested) or invest money into public transport.
Which solution is best? Perhaps a combination of the three?
Regards, Moaz for TRANSIT
I’d rather Malaysia have a cheap and very affordable and efficient right on time public transport system rather than driving. Unfortunately, this is not the scenario for the moment and I doubt that it will happen any sooner. Maybe we will see after at least ten generations in the future. That is also a very conservative estimation.
[…] The complaints of the residents were highlighted in a recent article in the Star Metro as well as a post by TRANSIT. Bus service to housing estates resumes (Star Metro) By CHARLES […]