SEMENYIH: The Transport Ministry yesterday called on tour and express bus operators to ensure safety videos were aired on board, for the benefit of passengers.
Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook said the videos would help passengers be aware of action required during an emergency, besides encouraging them to wear their seat belts.
While seat belts are not yet compulsory for bus passengers, inculcating a seat belt-wearing culture is nevertheless important, the minister said, expressing the hope that bus operators would encourage such efforts through the airing of safety videos.
Referring to creative safety videos aired on various airplanes he had boarded in the past, Loke said such efforts served to attract the attention of passengers and inculcate safety awareness among them.
He said this to reporters after attending a signing ceremony between Terus Maju Services Sdn Bhd, Zhontong Bus and La Coach Master (Myanmar) Co Ltd here today, to facilitate the introduction of e-bus technology and accessories from China, and market buses via Terus Maju to other countries, particularly Myanmar.
On the matter of express bus fares, Loke said there were no plans to change them as current fares were affordable and this ensured competitiveness.
He added that the government supported the aim of the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) to optimise the usage of tour buses by enabling them to be hired via an e-hailing service or such, in situations where passengers have been dropped off at their destinations and empty tour buses return to their points of departure.
“The government views this as a constructive idea from the industry and is ready to assist in various aspects such as amending regulations but the application must be developed by industry players or the private sector,” he said. — Bernama