By DARIUS SHU CHEN KEONG
SUBANG JAYA: Taylor’s University (TU) has decided to replace Wawasan Sutera with a new bus operator on 17 November with the same bus fare of RM1.50 per trip.
Vice President of Facilities, Environment Health Safety and Administration Murali Rajoo said, “To ensure our commitment to students, the price will remain at RM1.50.”
He said the university pays Wawasan Sutera RM47,000 a month for six shuttle bus services.
However, this amount was found to be only sufficient to cover the costs of petrol, maintenance and salary without profit, he added.
“The university therefore allowed the bus operator to charge students a fare of RM1.50 per trip as additional income,” Murali said.
Murali added that they are looking into adding more routes to reduce parking problems.
“The current routes will remain but we are exploring 10 additional pickup points which will be announced soon,” Murali said.
The termination of Wawasan Sutera’s contract was due to the unauthorised use of a TU bus to ferry rally-goers to the red shirt rally on 16 September.
TU students hope for better bus services in the future to accommodate the large number of students.
Murali said TU has invited various bus companies to present their proposals for shuttle bus services.
“We’re currently conducting background checks on these new bus companies to ensure they are not affiliated with the current operator,” Murali said.
According to Vice-Chancellor and President of TU Professor Datuk Dr Hassan Said, they are reviewing the new bus operator proposals.
“We will ensure that the level of service should be equal or better than the services given by the current bus operator,” Professor Dr Hassan added.
School of Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts student Hu ZeHao, 19, said, “There are only two time slots per hour and that is just not enough.”
Hu added that the destination routes are also very limited and prefer it to reach further regions.
School of Biosciences student Shazleen Ahmad, 21, said, “I think free rides should be offered to students as we have paid a lot for our resource fees.”
“It would be good if the buses could be more punctual too,” she said.
Shazleen also agreed that there should be more time slots with an increase in shuttle
buses to accommodate the large number of students.
Vice President of Facilities, Environment Health Safety and Administration Murali Rajoo said, “To ensure our commitment to students, the price will remain at RM1.50.”
He said the university pays Wawasan Sutera RM47,000 a month for six shuttle bus services.
However, this amount was found to be only sufficient to cover the costs of petrol, maintenance and salary without profit, he added.
“The university therefore allowed the bus operator to charge students a fare of RM1.50 per trip as additional income,” Murali said.
Murali added that they are looking into adding more routes to reduce parking problems.
“The current routes will remain but we are exploring 10 additional pickup points which will be announced soon,” Murali said.
The termination of Wawasan Sutera’s contract was due to the unauthorised use of a TU bus to ferry rally-goers to the red shirt rally on 16 September.
TU students hope for better bus services in the future to accommodate the large number of students.
Murali said TU has invited various bus companies to present their proposals for shuttle bus services.
“We’re currently conducting background checks on these new bus companies to ensure they are not affiliated with the current operator,” Murali said.
According to Vice-Chancellor and President of TU Professor Datuk Dr Hassan Said, they are reviewing the new bus operator proposals.
“We will ensure that the level of service should be equal or better than the services given by the current bus operator,” Professor Dr Hassan added.
School of Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts student Hu ZeHao, 19, said, “There are only two time slots per hour and that is just not enough.”
Hu added that the destination routes are also very limited and prefer it to reach further regions.
School of Biosciences student Shazleen Ahmad, 21, said, “I think free rides should be offered to students as we have paid a lot for our resource fees.”
“It would be good if the buses could be more punctual too,” she said.
Shazleen also agreed that there should be more time slots with an increase in shuttle
buses to accommodate the large number of students.