BEFORE the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) was set up in 2010, the Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board (CVLB) was tasked with issuing permits to develop entrepreneurship in road transportation.
CVLB’s role may have been justified four decades ago, but it has become untenable as commuters are bogged down by poor connectivity, thus impacting the nation’s productivity and competitiveness.
SPAD, which became operational in 2011, drew up master plans, including the National Land Public Transport Master Plan.
The Greater Kuala Lum-pur/Klang Valley Land Public Transport Master Plan included transformation plans for taxi and bus industries.
The biggest challenges for SPAD were metered taxis and stage buses in Greater Kuala Lumpur, which encompasses Kuala Lumpur, Ampang Jaya, Selayang, Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya, Shah Alam, Klang, Kajang, Putrajaya and Sepang.
In early 2009, CVLB granted many individual permits to taxi drivers, and a huge number of permits were hoarded by taxi companies. Although taxi fares were increased in August the same year, drivers’ income dropped because the market was flooded with taxis.
As such, SPAD decided from the onset not to issue any more metered taxi permits. The 1,000 Teksi 1Malaysia (TEKS1M) permits granted to individuals later were converted from those surrendered by taxi companies.
The initial car chosen for TEKS1M was Proton Exora.
TEKS1M was meant to replace budget and executive taxis with 7,500 units running by 2015, but this has fallen short.
Just like the taxi business, SPAD’s plans for the industry were also disrupted by technology.
Uber entered the market in 2014 and got many people to offer transportation services with their vehicles.
Uber snatched away passengers from homegrown MyTeksi, which was launched as a taxi app in 2012, by offering RM1.50 as starting fare, RM12 per hour and 55 sen per km. Budget taxi fares were RM3 as starting fare, RM17.14 per hour and 87 sen per km.
MyTeksi realised it could not compete with Uber by using taxis.
So, it added cheaper private cars to its mobile app and rebranded itself as Grab, under which passengers can ride in private cars, GrabCar, or GrabTaxi (taxis).
A huge number of customers chose GrabCar over GrabTaxi.
Uber and Grab competed and captured market share by subsidising fares.
For example, Uber passengers pay 42 per cent of the fare on average globally, and losses for the company amounted to US$3 billion (RM13.2 billion) last year.
But, market share did wonders to the company’s valuation.
In 2011, Uber’s valuation was US$60 million. Last year, it went up to US$68 billion, or 1,133 times more.
However, unregulated fares are uncontrolled monsters.
They surge during peak hours when demand exceeds supply. When many taxis are out of the picture, the scenario could worsen.
SPAD is issuing individual permits to taxi drivers leaving agreements with taxi companies, and granting them RM5,000 each to subsidise the downpayment on a new taxi.
These benefits were first enjoyed by the initial 1,000 TEKS1M drivers.
There is little difference between drivers of private cars using Uber or Grab and taxi drivers.
In fact, many Uber and Grab drivers are former taxi drivers, particularly those who could not qualify for individual taxi permits.
But, the same driver can be Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
In the past, complaints against taxi drivers picking up passengers through trunk radios were minimal as they had to deal with no-nonsense radio taxi operators.
When MyTeksi introduced the taxi app in 2012 and Uber in 2014, participating drivers were on their best behaviour as they risked being kicked out.
The e-hailing app for booking taxis or private cars proved to be the real game changer here.
Likewise, the bus industry can also be transformed by using technology.
SPAD’s intervention is necessary for an industry-wide transformation as a standalone effort by a single bus operator would not be effective.
Stage bus operations could be transformed by installing closed-circuit television cameras to record drivers and passengers, and payments could go cashless, as adopted by toll plazas.
Monitoring bus drivers would force them to discard bad and dangerous habits, while bringing out their best behaviour.
Similarly, CCTVs will make passengers more civilised and courteous, and reduce opportunities for pickpocketing and molestation.
Over the past decades, public and private stage bus companies were plagued by pilferages, leakages and wastages.
If these are not plugged, they will affect not only bus companies but also society.
Credit must be given to Rapid Bus for investing RM35 million in a cashless bus ticketing system in 2011.
If the e-hailing ride application has moved our taxi industry forward, going cashless would be the game changer for stage buses.
Continuing with the status quo would condemn stage bus operations to a culture of pilferage that affects society.
On the other hand, stage bus business would thrive when the ecosystem is healthy, with buses driven by professional, honest and fit drivers earning respectable salaries and honouring their jobs.
Y.S. CHAN
Kuala Lumpur