MalaysiaGIS.com

Express bus drivers will not get away with reckless driving and speeding once a national centre is set up to monitor express buses via satellite. The soon-to-be-established hub will operate like an air traffic control centre and track buses fitted with GPS (Global Positioning System) devices 24 hours a day.

The Transport Ministry is working out the details with various government departments and agencies. "We are trying to set it up as soon as possible," Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat said.

 He said the centre would be manned by staff from either the Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board, the Road Safety Department or the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety and Research.

 A new regulation that came into force last year requires GPS devices to be installed in new express buses.

 Several bus companies have installed the devices in old buses as well. "The GPS system is a necessity. We are looking at making it compulsory for bus companies to install them in all their buses."

 But there are drawbacks when companies monitor their own buses. While a company may take disciplinary action against an errant driver, it is unlikely it will report him to the authorities.

 The companies will also have to hire extra staff to man the tracking centre and these staff, procedures or action taken against drivers may not satisfy official requirements. "Having GPS devices installed in buses is meaningless if not monitored closely.

 "Right now, it is up to the bus company (to take action)." Establishing a national monitoring centre will solve this problem.

 Ong said a mechanical speed limiter might also be used to cap the speed of buses. "I'm in favour of using both the GPS system and a mechanical speed limiter."

 The ministry is also considering other measures to reduce accidents, such as limiting the number of hours a bus driver can drive. "If they must rush for trips, then it is unhealthy," Ong said.

 "Then there is also the issue of quality of sleep. We are now working with our universities on sleep tests for the drivers to gauge the quality of sleep and how it affects their driving." Ong noted that there was a ruling for two drivers for each bus. "This also became a problem. More often than not, they ended up chit chatting. "At the end of the day, both drivers ended up exhausted."

 In 2007, there were 75 deaths from bus accidents.

 This was reduced to 48 deaths the following year. There was a flurry of proposals to reduce accidents by the authorities after two horrific express bus crashes: the Bukit Gantang crash which claimed 22 lives in 2007 and the Tangkak crash that claimed 10 lives last year.

 The proposals included the GPS system, banning night journeys and fitting seat belts for passengers.

 Only the GPS proposal is being implemented in stages. Last year, minister of the now defunct entrepreneur and cooperative development ministry, Datuk Noh Omar, said by the end of the year, all express buses would carry a GPS device.

 But Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board chairman Datuk Halimah Shadique has said that the GPS devices would be compulsory only for new express buses.

 Since buses older than 10 years have to be taken off the road, this means that by 2018 all express buses will have GPS devices.

Sources: New Straits Times