To ensure that motorcycle taxi services (bike hailing) comply with the rules and are safe, Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook today personally tested the facility by taking a ride on a Dego Ride motorcycle.
He opted to use the service from the Kuala Lumpur Police Contingent Headquarters (IPK) to the Central Market Kuala Lumpur LRT station to check on the Central Market’s Pedestrian Bridge, this morning.
Loke told the media that the 10-minute journey by motorcycle taxi was a surprise check he performed on the service.
“I had to wait for 15 minutes after booking through the app (application), maybe because it is still new, but the rider had apparently complied with the rules during the two-kilometre ride,” he told reporters here today.
The Dego Ride rider who ferried Loke provided him with a helmet, rode at a moderate speed and obeyed all the rules including stopping at the traffic lights.
Loke explained that surprise checks will be carried out by the ministry from time to time to ensure that those operating the service comply with the law and will not cause any problem.
The ministry will monitor a ‘pilot project’ of the service for six months before any legal framework is in place for the service including the Public Service Vehicle (PSV) licence requirements for its owners.
“However, companies operating these services must provide insurance coverage for their pillion riders and motorcyclists,” he said.
The motorcycle taxi service, Dego Ride, began operation on Jan 1, which is accessible through an application on the smartphone, with the service having about 500 riders in the Klang Valley.
Ride hailing company Grab, is also expected to introduce the motorcycle service, with Gojek, the company that introduced motorcycle taxi services in Indonesia, likely to join too.
“For Gojek, so far they have not opened a company here, so they have not been allowed yet to operate the motorcycle taxi service,” he said.
Meanwhile, Loke expressed his dissatisfaction that three out of four commuter train service ticket machines at the Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) station in Kuala Lumpur are not functioning.
Loke, who made a surprise visit to the station after inspecting the Pedestrian Bridge, said it is extremely shameful and reflects the bad image of public transportation in the country.
“Especially in this new year, whereby we are welcoming foreign tourists to the country with the Visit Malaysia 2020 campaign, this situation is extremely unacceptable,” he said.
Loke called on the top leaders of the public transport service providers in the country including Prasarana, MRT Corp and KTMB to be more pro-active and go down to the ground to address service issues that are often the complaints of customers.
“I know a lot of issues, especially on ticketing, KTM (had) a lot of complaints on ticketing, on services and all that from time to time, we have to upgrade.
“No point for us to have big projects, spend billions of ringgit to upgrade the tracks, upgrade the station, but in terms of the services to public we are far behind,” he said.
In the meantime, commenting on the resumption of operation of the Rayani Air carrier this year, he said there has been no request from the company to resume service.
Any airline seeking to become operational will need the approval of the Malaysian Aviation Commission (MAVCOM) and the Malaysian Civil Aviation Authority (CAAM).