The Ministry of Transport (MoT) has approved around RM170 million in subsidies, under its Interim Stage Bus Support Fund (ISBSF), for bus operations on low-traffic and low-profit routes in Malaysia. Over the next three years, the funds will be allocated to 37 bus operators, operating 439 buses across 252 routes across Peninsular Malaysia.
Out of the total, 26 high performance companies were awarded a three-year contract while the remaining 11 companies were awarded a one-year-long contract. Stage bus operators will need to transition to a cashless fare collection system to qualify for the ISBSF subsidies.
Since 3 January 2012, the government has approved more than RM1 billion in subsidies for bus operators across Malaysia.