THE Land Public Transport Agency (APAD) is a shadow of its former self ever since the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) was reduced to an agency under the Ministry of Transport as part of cost-cutting exercise, following last year’s General Election.

With most of SPAD’s staff laid off and its enforcement division absorbed by the Road Transport Department (RTD), only a third of the former workforce are left in APAD. The payroll now may just be one fifth of what SPAD used to pay out previously.

However, such savings came at the expense of road transport industry players, as their operations have been affected by difficulties and delays in renewing their commercial vehicle permits, which have yet to be fully resolved.

Ironically, these players, along with associations’ officials, were happier to deal with officers in the Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board (CVLB) than with SPAD, which took over commercial vehicle licensing in peninsular Malaysia in January 2011.

No doubt, CVLB had many weaknesses that necessitated the creation of SPAD, but CVLB officers were not as rigid as those in SPAD, which frustrated industry players with bureaucracy.

Regulators tend to forget or do not realise that they too must facilitate and promote the industry.

A lot of water has flowed under the bridge and it is pointless to debate past issues.

What APAD needs now is more budget and staff to speed up digitalisation initiated by SPAD but this would be alien to RTD, as long as its enforcement officers demand drivers to produce vehicle permits.

In Kuala Lumpur, City Hall enforcement officers are using handheld devices to key in vehicle registration numbers to determine whether parking fees have been paid.

After making machine payment, drivers do not have to return to the car to display parking receipts.

Likewise, there is no need to travel to the nearest APAD office, which can be far away, to wait in a queue.

If one can be certain the vehicle permits will be renewed without making another trip, waiting a whole day may be tolerable, although it can be agonising.

However, refusing to renew vehicle permits for trivial reasons, such as an unpaid summonses or fines, is totally unnecessary, because it could lead to disruption of commercial vehicle operations, affect businesses and impact our nation’s economy.

For example, grounding a stage bus for just a day would leave hundreds of commuters stranded and lower the productivity of their workplace.

Bus operators may not be aware of existing summonses or fines if drivers do not submit them to the office, or notifications of traffic offence sent by post are not received.

In any case, road transport operators should not be treated as if they are Singaporean motorists able to escape unless they are forced to settle their summonses or fines on the spot.

While counter staff are required to follow instructions, APAD officers should be allowed to use their discretion to lend a helping hand to the industry and not remain apathetic.

Their KPI should include verdicts by leading industry players and transport associations.

APAD’s vision statement is to accelerate the transformation of integrated, efficient and secure transportation system; and its mission is to empower a technology-based transport system as a catalyst for national development.

The success of its vision and mission will hinge upon basic steps, such as speeding up the renewal of commercial vehicle permits manually for now and accelerating its digitalisation. Industry players cannot wait to see APAD come of age.

It is imperative the agency pull out all the stops and step on its accelerator pedal, so that transformation of road transport system in peninsular Malaysia can accelerate as envisaged, facilitated by digitalisation.

*YS Chan reads The Malaysian Insight

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.