The Ministry of Transport is open to reevaluating its decision on motorbike e-hailing services. This comes from transport minister Anthony Loke, who said that he was willing to implement a proof of concept (POC) including requests from operators who wish to conduct a test field (sandbox) for the service.
He said that the government is open to creating a sandbox if it can find a suitable area, although he opines that Malaysian culture is not inclined towards using motorcycle e-hailing, but adding that he could be wrong. The minister stated that if a pilot project ends up being successful, he would be open to the idea in order to alleviate the burden of first-mile and last-mile transport.
Loke said he would discuss the approval for the POC with the Road Transport Department (JPJ) and the Land Public Transport Agency (APAD) if any applications are submitted. This is in response to Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean Chung, who suggested that his constituency could serve as a test location for a sandbox initiative.
The government had previously given permission for several companies to roll out pilot projects for bike e-hailing, with firms like Dego Ride, Gojek, and Grab participating in the trial. However, the transport ministry then announced that it would not give the go ahead for bike-hailing services due to concerns around the high death rates of motorcycle and pillion riders from accidents.
(Source: NST)
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