KUALA LUMPUR: The Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) has announced new rates for taxi and express bus fares.
The base rate for both Klang Valley and Penang budget taxis remains unchanged at RM3. However, for Teksi1M the base rate goes up from RM3 to RM4.
Distance fares for budget taxis in Kuala Lumpur will increase from 10 sen for 115m to 25 sen per 200m, while express bus fares will rise from 9.3 sen per km to 11.4 sen per km from April 1.
According to a SPAD fact sheet, this means an express bus ticket to Ipoh from KL will cost RM25.30 instead of RM20.60 previously.
Drivers can impose the new rate as soon as their meters are calibrated, which entails a Puspakom check on their vehicles.
Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) chairman Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar who announced this here today said the total operating cost for buses and taxis have gone up by 33 per cent with NGV prices alone increasing by 11.3 per cent.
"Cumulative inflation, depreciation and increase in wages need to be taken into consideration," he said, adding that NGV prices are also expected to increase six months after the revision.
Syed Hamid said that the last time taxi and bus fares were reviewed was in 2009.
The hike is also expected to deter drivers from not using their meters.
Rail fares are also expected to be increased in one or two months time, as some of the rates have not been increased since 1990.
Syed Hamid said the announcement would be made by the operators.
He also said fares for stage buses were set to stay for now as the government recently pumped in RM400 million to sustain them.
The buses nationwide were initially going bust and were forced to cut down services as they faced similar increases in operating cost.