‘Standard to improve bus terminals being drafted’
MELAKA: A quality standard for upgrading public transport terminals is being drafted to include various aspects for the convenience and safety of passengers, said Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook.
He said the standard, which was being developed through the Land Public Transport Agency, aimed to improve the quality of public transport and encourage more people to use it.
“The government is preparing a standard to improve public transport terminals to be on a par with airports or the SouthBandar Tasik Selatan Integrated Transport Terminal in Kuala Lumpur.
“For ticket sales, we will introduce a ticketing system based at the bus terminal concerned so that it can overcome the problem of ticket touts,” he said after visiting the Melaka Sentral bus terminal here yesterday.
Present were state Public Works, Transport and Public Utilities Committee chairman Mohd Sofi Abdul Wahab and Melaka Sentral general manager Md Yusof Abdullah.
Loke said the implementation of the standard would be carried out in stages, depending on each state’s financial capabilities.
He said Penang, Perak and Melaka had the capability to adhere to the standard.
On the five-year passenger charge rebate introduced by Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) to airlines operating at the Melaka International Airport, Batu Berendam, he said the incentive was appropriate to encourage more airlines to operate in the state.
“We hope airline operators will work together to come up with measures to boost their operations and ensure more services are introduced to the public.”
Chief Minister Adly Zahari yesterday announced that MAHB would provide a RM50 rebate for international flights outside Asean, for which passengers were being imposed with a charge of RM73, while passengers within the region would have a rebate of RM20, from a charge of RM35 previously.
He said the charges after the rebate was RM23 for outside Asean, and RM15 for within Asean, while the charge for domestic flights remained at RM11.