KL Monorail had commenced the operation of 3 refurbished 4-car train sets since last Friday

by RAHIMI YUNUS/ pic by RAZAK GHAZALI

THE Transport Ministry (MoT) is ready to conduct a feasibility study on bike-hailing in a move that would potentially pave the way for the entry of Indonesia’s Gojek and uplift the ban on local start-up Dego Ride.

Minister Anthony Loke said the MoT would look into the mechanism of motorcycle e-hailing, particularly on safety. He noted that the Youth and Sports Ministry is viewing the matter from the jobs creation angle.

“We have heard Gojek’s presentation and it was interesting. We will further study the mechanism of such services and the MoT is looking at the whole public transportation ecosystem, including on the safety aspect,” Loke said at the flag-off ceremony of Kuala Lumpur (KL) Monorail’s four-car train sets yesterday.

Loke said Gojek CEO and co-founder Nadiem Makarim had expressed the company’s interest to introduce the twowheel e-hailing service in Malaysia during a recent meeting with Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, initiated by Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.

Loke said Syed Saddiq would bring the bike-hailing proposal to the Cabinet on grounds of youth employment opportunity and the MoT would study the ecosystem.

He admitted that the ministry once viewed that Malaysia is not ready for bike-hailing services due to safety concerns, but remained open to the idea.

Almost a year ago, the MoT took a hard stance on Dego Ride, saying Malaysia would never legalise the homegrown company’s bike-sharing service.

The discussion on Gojek’s prospective debut in Malaysia raised questions on the possibility of reversing the ban on Dego Ride, which was declared as illegal on Jan 24, 2017.

“The ban was executed by the previous government. We have not made any final decision on whether to allow it or not. If we allow it, of course, it would be open for all,” Loke said.

Meanwhile, Syed Saddiq had said Dego Ride is a good alternative mode of transportation.

“The difference (between Go-Jek and Dego Ride) is, we want to get more investments in. The point is that, this will be implemented fairly for all,”

Syed Saddiq was quoted as saying at the first sitting of the 32nd National Youth Consultative Council in KL yesterday.

For Loke, the “first mile, last mile” connectivity is another factor to be considered in the discussion.

In another development, KL Monorail had commenced the operation of three refurbished four-car train sets since last Friday.

Loke said another two refurbished four-car train sets will be delivered to Prasarana Malaysia Bhd by November this year, making up five sets in total to be in service.

This is part of the roll-out plan under the RM303 million settlement agreement inked between Prasarana and a Scomi Group unit, Scomi Transit Projects Sdn Bhd, on April 4 this year.

The settlement also comprised an acquisition of seven new four-car train sets, which are expected to be delivered by the next two years.

KL Monorail ridership could increase again with the reintroduction of the longer coaches, from about 31,000 passengers daily to more than 70,000.

Loke said the waiting time for the KL Monorail users could be reduced to 6.5 minutes during peak hours, with higher capacity and frequency.

The service celebrates its 16th anniversary which falls on Aug 31.