Look for alternative

LAST Wednesday, there was another round of protest by taxi drivers. This time, it was near the central region office of the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) in Kelana Jaya, Selangor. They handed over a memorandum objecting to the increase of natural gas vehicle (NGV) price to RM1.05 per litre, the imposition of the Goods and Services Tax on maintenance and rentals, competition from private cars using apps, and lack of insurance for their vehicles and themselves. One of the taxi driver associations also asked for another round of fare hikes, but this was rejected by SPAD chairman Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar. It defies logic why cheap taxis with excise duty exemption and running mostly on NGV cannot compete with private cars that cost much more and are running on petrol at RM2.05 per litre.   Before the last fare revision in March, I had proposed that budget taxi fares be increased to RM1.25 per km and RM24 per hour. On March 19, SPAD announced that NGV prices would be raised to RM1.05 per litre and new rates for budget taxis in the Klang Valley would be 25 sen for every 200m or 36 seconds, which worked out to RM1.25 per km and RM25 per hour. Fares for Teksi 1Malaysia (TEKS1M) were increased to RM1.50 per km and RM30 per hour to reflect the higher cost of operating a Proton Exora. But, TEKS1Ms are shunned by cost-conscious passengers and increasing the fares for regular taxis would drive more people to use private cars. When budget taxi rates had RM3 starting fare, 87 sen per km and RM17.14 per hour, UberX was introduced to the local market at RM1.50, 55 sen and RM12 respectively. The protesting taxi drivers were led by a member of parliament who called for taxi permits to be issued to individuals, saying that their RM673 monthly income was below the minimum wage. Issues on taxis are complicated and leaders from both sides of the political divide have made a fool of themselves when they weighed into the matter. The majority of taxi permits were granted to individuals and many of these were rented out. Therefore, granting new permits is most likely to send more people into the low-income trap. Taxi driving has been a sunset industry for the past 15 years and I experienced this first-hand. I drove a premier taxi from 2000 to 2003 and switched to a budget taxi from 2004 to 2010. Each year, I see the decline in the number of passengers as more people buy cars, take trains and fewer tourists use taxis in the Klang Valley. There are more buses on the road, including GO-KL and there has been an exodus of foreign workers. Kudos to SPAD for not adding more metered taxi permits in the Klang Valley since the inception and conversion of 1,000 permits surrendered by taxi companies to individual Teksi 1Malaysia permits. All parties should stop asking for metered taxi permits in the Klang Valley as granting more would harm, instead of help, taxi drivers. I have advocated that intervention is necessary before people commit themselves to driving a taxi for a living. They ought to realise that no one forced them to pay several thousand ringgit as down payment or made them sign a rental-purchase agreement to take delivery of a taxi. If they cannot accept paying rental for a permit at RM20 a day, then they should not consider driving a taxi until they get their own permit. The extra they are paying is for the car loan, for which taxi companies charge a high interest that is commensurate with the risk. They could always apply for a bank loan but few would qualify. The recent memorandum claimed that drivers were getting RM3,300 in fares and RM2,627 in expenses, leaving only RM673 as their nett monthly income. If that is the case, taxi driver associations should help their members find other jobs. As there is a big shortage of lorry and bus drivers, the associations could request grants from the government to upgrade their driving licences from motorcar to heavy vehicles.   If they do not wish to drive long-haul, they could earn several thousand ringgit monthly driving stage buses in the Klang Valley.   But if they choose to drive taxis, then they have to provide better service and build a regular customer base to generate a steady stream of bookings to the airport or for hourly use. They cannot continue to expect the public to be dependent on them for transport. Recently, I took the train to Kelana Jaya, Petalign Jaya, and tried to take a taxi from the LRT station to Subang Airport. Taxi drivers there had long gained notoriety and my experience was no different. I had to walk out to the Damansara-Puchong Expressway and get a taxi. Another place where I encountered fixed-fare taxi drivers was at the Batu Tiga Komuter Station. It is no surprise that many people have switched to using private cars rather than having to deal with unscrupulous taxi drivers. Taxi drivers should give up the idea that they can continue to treat passengers badly and expect customers. I agree that bad laws ought to be amended but existing laws must be upheld. On the day they staged the protest, SPAD enforcement officers seized nine pirate taxis. This year, SPAD has seized 43 Uber and 89 GrabCar vehicles. Taxi drivers should have given support instead of protesting. If enforcement has been inadequate, taxi associations should have called on other enforcement agencies empowered to seize pirate taxis, as they have far greater resources than SPAD. A three-pronged approach by the police, Road Transport Department and SPAD would scare the living daylights out of pirate taxi drivers. This is better than allowing a frenzied mob of taxi drivers to take the law into their own hands.

https://www.nst.com.my/news/2015/10/look-alternatives