GEORGE TOWN: Acting Gerakan president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon has proposed three measures to improve and reduce the cost of public transportation.

Criticising the fuel price hike as "too severe" and "too sudden," he said drastic measures must be taken to cushion the impact of the drastic increase in fuel prices.

"First, abolish road tax and issue more licences for taxis, school buses and factory buses.

"Second, increase the number of buses for Rapid Penang and Rapid KL while providing soft loans for private bus companies to buy more buses," he said in a statement Thursday.

Dr Koh said these measures could increase the supply, cushion the cost and encourage more people to switch to public transportation.

The third measure was to further reduce the road tax for three years for private vehicle owners who choose to convert their vehicles to run on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) or Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), he added.

He said it was also important to increase the supply of CNG and LPG in all petrol stations and break the monopoly by Petronas.

"Similarly, all taxis and buses should be given grants and zero-interest loans to modify their vehicles to be able to run on CNG and LPG," he added.

Dr Koh said the three measures must be implemented immediately and efficiently.