PUTRAJAYA: Beginning next month, double decker buses will be banned from travelling on six hillslope stretches until a complete study on the safety risks associated with the said areas has been completed. The six locations are Genting Highlands, Cameron Highlands, Fraser’s Hill, Bukit Tinggi, Gunung Jerai and Bukit Larut.

Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said the government will give the relevant bus operators two weeks’ notice before implementing the travel restriction. “All double decker buses are prohibited from ferrying passengers to and from these six locations,” he told reporters yesterday.

A study on the safety risks of double decker buses on these accident-prone stretches will commence as soon as possible.

The deputy minister said the Land Public Transport Commission, Road Transport Department, Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research, Department of Road Safety and Public Works Department have been instructed to come up with plans to improve safety on these buses.

He said the travel restriction was based on suggestions made by the independent advisory panel to the transport minister, chaired by Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye.

Apart from that, Abdul Aziz said all bus operators are required to install a global positioning system (GPS) on each bus. He said the move is to further scrutinise the monitoring mechanism of the express buses. “With the system, the company and authorities can keep these buses and drivers on their toes.”

The new ruling, he said, is expected to come into effect within two months.

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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on April 23, 2014.