Actually these kind of buses existed before in Malaysia. It was usually despised because it is very uncomfortable. Good for the driver only because the cost is lower.

Singapore is very advanced now. You can also pay using bank card and credit card, even Malaysia credit card can also be used. Imagine one day Malaysia can also accept credit card.

70s and maybe early 80s. There were two sizes of minibus, this HK size one and the bigger one. If two buses were coming together, people would rather take the bigger bus.

Eventually the smaller HK size bus disappeared and left with the big size minibus which last from 80s to 90s.

Wow you found it. Not easy to find image of such minibus nowadays.

Singapore bus are on another level, it is better maintained than RapidKL and has double decker model. They got the budget lah since lots of people are using bus.

What they need are lots of buses, minibus or otherwise, to service lots of key connecting spots and branch out to various interconnecting routes, with minimal wait between buses. 30 minutes is too slow, even 20 minutes is too slow. 10 minutes should be the benchmark during peak hours. That means lots of buses and lots of drivers. Bus fare collection needs to be integrated so that people can just tap quickly to get in and out. In fact, just tap in will do and charge flat rate or by monthly pass. The total journey time in conjunction to rail should be more or less 1 hour for most people and comparable to driving and needs to be cheaper than driving. Then you will see many people switching to public transport.

But the cost side is a problem. That company is not going to make profit with cheap fare and lots of buses. Government will have to subsidize. Just like how Singapore subsidize their mass transit. If you want to compare to previous minibus fare of RM0.60, that was at a time when chicken rice normally costed RM2.00. So if compare to chicken rice price now, then a single trip bus fare will be RM3.00 without subsidies. Most people will consider that too expensive since most of the route won't be direct and require changing bus or to use the rails.

That's why need subsidies for it to work. It could not just leaves it to the drivers to manage the cost at low fare and expect people will be willing to take up this profession like back then. Previously at RM0.40 to RM0.60 per fare it was actually profitable for the drivers because the living cost was much lower then.

This post has been edited by vhs: Jun 17 2023, 10:14 AM

Subsidies is based on the actual passenger fetched, hence subsidizing the fare each person has to pay. Look at the fuel cost today and the maintenance cost, it is clear that RM0.60 won't work, not even RM1.00 is unlikely to work, don't even need to talk about fixed monthly pass. If transportation fee is costly, most people won't find it viable and you end up building the infra but no one will use it. The subsidies allow the company to not be in red and yet passengers able to afford it. And it is fair, because you don't get money if no one is using. The benefits is actually to the passengers, not to feed crony.

Because the alternative which people want low fare and more buses, simply is not going to happen due to cost.


This post has been edited by vhs: Jun 17 2023, 12:15 PM