Schoolbus operators charging more to ferry children to Singapore schools

JOHOR BARU: Parents with children studying in Singapore are frustrated that schoolbus operators have increased fares twice within three months due to the new toll rates at both the checkpoints in Malaysia and the island republic.

Newspaper distributor Rachel Chan, 38, whose eight-year-old daughter goes to school in Singapore, said the bus operator had of late raised the fare by RM100.

The toll at the Causeway, collected from motorists exiting and entering Johor within the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quaran­tine (CIQ) Complex here, came into effect on Aug 1.

Today, Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) starts charging new toll rates for all motorists entering and leaving the city-state. There is no change in rates for motorcycles.

“The operator imposed a RM70 increase after the toll rates were revised at the CIQ here and then an additional RM30 when Singapore followed suit,” said Chan.

She added that although the bus fare for her daughter, who has been studying in Singapore for two years now, had gone up from RM300 to RM400 per month, she had no choice but to let the girl continue her studies there as the syllabus differed from Malaysian schools.

Self-employed Evelyn Wong, 38, whose 10-year-old son attends school in Woodlands, said her child’s bus operator had yet to raise the fare from RM400 to RM470 following the new toll rates at the CIQ complex.

“I believe the driver will do so in the next few days. I can’t blame the operator for raising the fare, but the new toll rates will impose an unnecessary burden on frequent travellers,” she added.

Under the new toll rates implemented by LTA, cars will be charged S$6.50 (RM16.70), from the previous S$1.20 (RM3.08) while for vans and light goods vehicles, it will be increased from S$1.90 (RM4.89) to S$9.80 (RM25.22).

Heavy vehicles now have to pay S$13 (RM33.46), up from S$2.60 (RM6.69). As for taxis, the rate goes from S$0.60 (RM1.54) to S$3.30 (RM8.49) while for buses, from S$1 (RM2.57) to S$5.30 (RM13.63).