by S BIRRUNTHA/ pic by BLOOMBERG

THE introduction of motorcycle e-hailing in Malaysia will benefit people who are taking short trips, especially during peak hours.

Malaysian E-hailing Drivers Association (Mehda) president Daryl Chong believes that bike e-hailing will lessen Grab drivers’ burdens during traffic congestion.

“Grab fares are low. A trip to KLCC from Pavilion could take about 45 minutes during peak hours and yet, drivers are only paid about RM10.

“So, if you are alone and you don’t mind riding a motorcycle, you might go for bikes because it is going to be a lot cheaper, probably about RM1.50 or RM2.

“In my opinion, Malaysians are more than happy to welcome a bike e-hailing service in congested areas,” he told The Malaysian Reserve (TMR) last Friday.

He added that people should not be confused with the functionality of such service, as people tend to have a misconception about it.

“We must understand that it is not for long distance, it is only meant for people who are taking short distance trips. The ideal distance should be around 2km to 3km, nothing more than that. This will mitigate the chances for accidents among motorcyclists.

“The only thing that bothers our association is the government’s decision to bring in a foreign entity like Gojek when they should have given the opportunity to our local company, Dego Ride,” he said.

According to Malaysian Grab Drivers Association president Arif Asyraf Ali, the e-hailing market is not going to be affected by the introduction of Gojek as the market is quite big to accommodate everyone.

“We’ll see what other services Gojek will bring into Malaysia, as they also have other products like Go-Clean, Go-Massage and Go-Mart, not just e-hailing.

“It definitely will not harm Grab’s market in general and even if it does, the percentage is going to be very low.

“There is a possibility for bike e-hailing to impact Grab in terms of short distance trips, because people do need to rush to certain places and bike e-hailing will be the most suitable for them,” he told TMR.

Arif Asyraf also said Malaysians tend to choose cars over motorcycles due to safety and convenience.

“Although bikes are the fastest mode to get to certain places, it is not the best during rainy days.

“In bad weather, we can expect bike e-hailing services to be affected. So, there are drawbacks for it as well,” he said.

Speaking of the implementation of Gojek, Arif Asyraf said the foreign entity will acquire about 20% of the overall e-hailing market in Malaysia.

“Currently, we are seeing the government taking a democratic approach by letting people choose what they want.

“Some people may like the bike e-hailing service, while some may not. It is a trial and error process,” he added.

Yesterday, the Transport Ministry made it clear that the Cabinet has so far only approved e-hailing motorcycle services to be introduced in the country, and not for any one particular company to operate the service.

Its Minister Anthony Loke said once the framework on the service has been approved in Parliament, any company can offer the service.

“Many seem to be confused over this issue. The Cabinet has not given any approval to Gojek, but only allowed motorcycle e-hailing or motorcycle taxi services to be introduced.

“Once we have approved this service (in Parliament), any company that wants to operate must follow the framework,” he told reporters after attending the launch of a book titled “My Journey By Bus” yesterday.

Loke said Gojek was just one of many motorcycle e-hailing companies and the ministry was, in fact, encouraging local companies to enter the fray once the service has been legalised.

He added that once the framework was ready, the ministry would need some time to test the system.

“We would need a trial period to test the service. To amend laws is not a small matter, it has to be debated in Parliament and it involves amendments to the Land Transport Act and so on,” he said.

In a related note, Big Blue Taxi services founder Datuk Shamsubahrin Ismail got into trouble for remarking that Indonesians who provide and use the Gojek service as “poor”, to which he later made a public apology.

Shamsubahrin said he had no problem if Gojek was brought into Malaysia, but passengers’ safety must be given an utmost priority.