I SYMPATHISE with the writers who expressed concerns about their children having to catch school bus at an early hour despite schools starting later. ('Don't let transport operators dictate school start time', Jan 13, and 'Pupils must still wake up before 6am to catch the school bus', Jan 23).

Bus operators are resisting the later pickup times as this clashes with their business of ferrying workers.

Many bus operators deal directly with the schools and dictate their terms and hold principals to ransom at the expense of the pupils.

With the implementation of a single-session in a few years' time, schools should start later so as not to deprive pupils, especially younger children, of adequate rest and sleep.

We can learn from the transport scheme of the former British armed forces, stationed here until their withdrawal in the 1960s, which had to ferry civilian workers to the various camps throughout the island.

The camps were divided into sectors and opened to tender. The successful bidder for each sector had to ferry all the workers, regardless of their place of residence, to the various camps within the vicinity of the sector.

Fare charges were commensurate with distance, with those living outside a particular sector and farther away paying a higher fare.

Sectors or zones can be created, administered and regulated by a central coordinator - preferably a governmental agency like the Ministry of Education or the Land Transport Authority - to conduct tenders for all the sectors or zones to ferry pupils to all the schools in a sector or zone.

Individual bus operators can form consortiums or partnerships to tender for the job.

Successful bidders will have to run a fleet of buses to ferry a relatively high volume of pupils to the several schools in a sector or zone, depending on locality, and with economies of scale would be able to achieve higher earnings without having to ferry additional loads of working adults.

The fare will also be commensurate with distance, with pupils living outside the sector or zone who travel a longer distance needing to pay more.

This is a win-win situation for all.

Chin Kee Thou

This article was first published in The Straits Times on February 02, 2009.