Why I say go, go, go to Gojek!

 I am looking forward to Gojek, the motorbike version of Grab car, coming to Malaysia. I have taken motorbike taxis in Jakarta and believe me, it was godsend given the legendary traffic snarls there.

We all know how bad the jams are in Kuala Lumpur, especially after heavy rain. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to take a two-wheeled taxi from your office, slicing past gridlocked cars and smiling at their misfortune as you whiz to the nearest LRT or MRT station?

I mostly drive, but I also use my motorbike (or bicycle) when going to nearby places where it's hard to find parking. I also minimise my risk by never riding on highways (unless there’s a separate bike lane) and riding only for short distances. So, if I go downtown from my home in Petaling Jaya to Bukit Bintang, I will ride my motorbike to a nearby MRT station (only 1.5km away) and take the train.

I have seen some Facebook posts condemning this idea and mostly, they seem to come from upper/middle-class types who tar ALL motorbikers as Mat Rempits. They forget that many poorer folks - clerical staff, factory workers, et cetera - rely on motorcycles as everyday transport. Anyway, Gojek (and the government) can always impose safety rules.

Gojek will also provide jobs for the Mat Motor, just as Grab Food and Food Panda have done. Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, who is pushing for motorcycle e-hailing, says the company has provided work to over two million bikers in Indonesia and hundreds of thousands more in Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam.

We all know that rebellions always start from empty stomachs, and this country has a ready supply of politicians who will blame bumiputera poverty on the “evil Chinese”. Maybe people who have more money in the pockets will be less ready to listen to such racial provokers?

Who are those objecting to motorcycle taxis? We can classify them into four categories:

• Those who insist it's not safe.
• Those who think it will turn LRT/MRT into white elephants.
• Those who claim that it’s “unIslamic”.
• Those who fear competition such as taxi companies/drivers.

My only question is why Transport Minister Anthony Loke is giving priority to Indonesia' Gojek and ignoring our own startup Dego Ride? In this Merdeka month, isn’t it time we build up our own online companies?

Enforcement is the key to safety

Let’s deal with the matter of safety first. One local radio executive producer asked Syed Saddiq via Tweeter to: "Just take [a] drive around KL (not being chauffeured around) during peak hours, and see how these motorcyclists behave like thugs. Adding motorcycles on the road is the opposite of trying to be a developed nation."

But banning Gojek because you have seen some crazy motorcyclists weaving in and out of traffic is like saying let’s ban all religious teachers because we recently had some crazy ones preaching racial hatred.

Obviously, branding all motorbike riders as Mat Rempits is very unfair. What about the uncles/aunties and shopping mall workers who just want to reach their workplaces safely? They are super safe riders just like me.

We also had Malaysian Taxi and Limousine Association president Mohd Shahrir Abdul Aziz claim that Gojek was dangerous because some riders in Thailand and Indonesia had taken two pillion riders at once.

This reminds me of how the authorities prevented KL's super-efficient minibus service from operating in the late 1990s. It was just because some drivers were, undeniably, driving dangerously. In its place came the inefficient IntraKota bus service which was operated by a crony who was also in charge of Proton.

Instead, what should have been done was to enforce existing laws on road safety against minibus drivers. But lax enforcement was used as an excuse to kill the whole system. I can only wonder if the good association president above is genuinely concerned about safety or more worried about business competition for those he represents?

Like minibuses, motorbike e-hailing can be regulated to become safe. Both the company running it and the government should set up guardrails to ensure the riders deliver their service properly. For example, riders should undergo training, pass exams for PSV licences and wear reflective jackets. Speed limits can be imposed on riders, which can be enforced using tracking data on the e-hailing app.

But the best mechanism to ensure safe, quality rides is probably the market itself. One dangerous ride and his passenger rates him with a zero star or complains to Gojek, thus, harming his future business.

This is unlike Grab Food or Food Panda riders who are seen riding helter-skelter as they only need to behave at the end of their delivery jobs. Nobody rates how they ride because there are no passengers.

I have also had people telling me: “You are not scared? These Gojek riders can rob or rape passengers?”

My answer is: “Grab car drivers also can also rob and rape passengers right? Why do you take?”

The same reasons that make Grab safe should apply to Gojek too. Anyone who wants to sign up has to show the ownership documents of his or her bike. All the data on the riders, their bikes and even their movements are stored in the system. If anything happens, police can easily trace the offenders.

The ultimate answer to safety concerns is simple: "Don’t like, don't take. Nobody is forcing you." But don't impose your class prejudices on others and deprive other people, especially poorer folks, of an extra transport option.

Reduce the use of public transportation?

Traffic engineering specialist Law Teik Hua, a professor at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, was quoted by the New Straits Times as saying: “We’ve invested so much taxpayers’ money into public transport.

"Recently, we decided to proceed with the LRT3 project. So what messages are we sending to the public? That they don’t need to use these facilities?”

What’s interesting about Law’s argument is that he admits motorbike e-hailing will provide good public transport service, but we must still insist that people use the LRT/MRT.

This is akin to someone declaring 100 years ago that we must say no to cars because the system has already invested so much in bullock carts and horse carriages.

But rather than seeing motorbike e-hailing and LRT/MRT/buses as a zero-sum game of “I win, you lose”, I believe both transport modes can offer synergy to our public transportation system.

The biggest problem in the LRT/MRT and bus system is what planners call “the last mile connection”. Unlike Singapore, which has dense apartment blocks within walking distance to MRT stations, our housing estates are spread out far and wide.

We can drive, but most LRT/MRT stations lack parking. We can wait for the feeder buses but these can take a long time to arrive - especially the LRT ones - and some of these bus stops look forlorn and open to snatch thieves.

So most people take a Grab car, but not everyone is willing to spend RM10 to 20 a day just to get to/from the stations. Maybe this is one reason that the MRT still does not have enough passengers.

From a reported 140,000 passengers daily in 2018, MRT ridership rose to some 200,000 this year after the RM100 travel pass was introduced. However, this is still below the 250,000 daily passengers target needed to recoup costs.

But what if people can get to the stations for only RM2 by using motorcycle taxis? Will this increase the usage of the LRT/MRT system?

I don’t agree with what Law said. I, for one, will certainly not want to pay RM10 or 15 for a long motorbike taxi ride from my home to say, Cheras, through exhaust fumes. But if I didn’t have my own bike, I will happily pay RM2 for a short ride from my home to the MRT station and then travel comfortably in an airconditioned MRT train to Cheras.

In other words, motorbike e-hailing and LRT/MRT may be a win-win solution that can boost the overall use of public transportation. If so, rather than disparaging motorcycle taxis, the upper/middle-class folks who drive should instead thank the service for helping them reduce traffic jams.

It’s 'unIslamic' and there's 'too much' competition

The Selangor mufti reportedly claimed on Thursday that it was “unIslamic" to have a man and woman who are not family members ride on the same motorbike as it could lead to “accusations” of improper behaviour. Therefore, he said, it was better not to have the service!

Does he, therefore, plan to have the religious police conduct spot checks on male riders carrying female passengers to see if they are carrying their marriage certificates?

But even if we agree with him, there are other alternatives. Maybe it should be limited only to non-Muslims, but this deprives thousands of Malay riders of the opportunity to earn extra income. Or what if there’s a rule that both the rider and passenger must be of the same sex? This will also encourage women to become Gojek riders.

Finally, there is the tired old argument that there will be “too much” competition. Bumiputera Taxi Entrepreneurs Association chairperson Mohd Alias Abdullah said there could be street protests against the government’s decision as motorcycle e-hailing will affect the incomes of taxi drivers.

“We will protest because there will be a mass migration to the ride-sharing model as consumers are price-sensitive,” he was quoted as saying in the NST report.

It’s the same logic used by those who first objected to Grab and Uber operating in Malaysia, preferring the bad old days when taxis overcharged customers or refusing to go to certain destinations.

We have the same situation now that Uber has left the local market as it left Grab with a de facto monopoly on car e-hailing services. Customers complain they have to pay more for rides while drivers grumble that their benefits have been cut.

What is needed to ensure prices and benefits remain competitive is to have, well, more competition! And that’s why Gojek should be welcomed as a new player to shake up the virtual e-hailing monopoly.

For all the reasons discussed here, I see the positives outweigh the objections raised. And that’s why I think it’s about time that Malaysia joins the rest of Southeast Asia in having motorbike taxis.

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ANDREW SIA is a veteran journalist and editor who prefers teh tarik khau over tepid English tea. You can add milk, sugar and halia to his drink at tehtarik@gmail.com. - Mkini