Mr. Noel Matthews:

We were asked about competition and why we only compete on the expressways and not on the PSOs and serving small towns. The reason is that they are PSOs and are direct award contracts. In doing that, 78% of the private fleet was discarded. We could not compete. The only place on which the private operator could compete was on the expressways and by establishing new routes. What we would intend to do with PSOs is turn them commercially, with the help of the National Transport Authority. We believe they do not meet the needs of their target market. They are running at the wrong times and they are really old services. Times have changed and towns have grown. The PSOs do not suit the needs. If we were successful in getting a PSO contract, we would like to work with the NTA to revisit the times, perhaps, and the route and integrate it with others. I do not believe there should be school buses, rural transport buses, express buses and so forth. They are all buses. One bus can do the lot. We should integrate PSOs, school transport, express services and rural transport and maximise vehicle and driver utilisation. It can all be pulled together which would, ultimately, make it very commercially viable, therefore writing off the PSO on that route.