Ride-hailing firms leave elderly cabbies in the dust

 

Cabbies spend their time chatting as they endure the long wait for passengers.

PETALING JAYA: An elderly cab driver sits at the taxi stand in the heat outside Bangsar Village I in his crisp white shirt, looking around for passengers.

He waves at his fellow taxi drivers. Some join him on the bench but others remain in their cabs with the engines switched off and windows wound down to let the air circulate.

Bhavin and his mates, aged 70 and above, are being swept away by the tides of change that have come with the introduction of e-hailing services in the city.

This is because some ride-hailing companies allow only those aged 21 to 69 to be their drivers and require those aged 50 to 69 to pass a medical check-up.

For Bhavin, aged 72, signing up to be an e-hailing driver is a non-starter.

“I have been a taxi driver for 50 years, and this is the life I have always known,” he told FMT.

However, his livelihood has been badly affected since the introduction of e-hailing services. Passengers are few and far between.

Usually, he would have to wait for up to an hour to get a passenger.

“Just look at the long queue of taxi drivers and see how few passengers there are,” he said, pointing to about 10 taxis waiting in line.

A line of idle taxis.

Jon, another cabbie in his 70s, said it was becoming a struggle to make just RM50 even after eight hours of work.

After subtracting the cost of petrol and perhaps a meal, he may be left with RM10 to take home to his family.

Hong, a 65-year-old former public servant, said that on certain days he only made between RM20 and RM30, from which taxi companies could take up to 20% in commission.

“On those days I have to wait for up to an hour to get one passenger and the trip eventually only pays me RM4,” he said. “How can I survive like this?”

He said the free shuttle service provided by the government had also reduced his income, although he acknowledged that it was a good initiative, particularly for the urban poor.

In Sept 2012, the government introduced the Go-KL City Bus, a free shuttle service for both visitors to and residents of Kuala Lumpur. It has now expanded to five routes with more than 80 stops all over the capital.

“I hope the government can look into helping taxi drivers rather than bringing in more e-hailing service providers,” said Hong.

In 2019, Malaysia had 41 ride-hailing firms, according to the Land Public Transport Agency. - FMT