Govt to work with cabbies, e-hailing firms to boost train ridership

 

Transport minister Loke Siew Fook said the ministry was looking at new ways to resolve the first and last mile problem.

PUTRAJAYA: The government will be engaging taxi and e-hailing providers to help resolve the first and last mile problem for public transport users in the hope of boosting train ridership.

Transport minister Loke Siew Fook said among the possible ways to resolve the matter were ride-sharing and offering cheaper fares to the public.

“Looking at the first mile problem, feeder buses have not been able to resolve it as these are not available everywhere.

“So we are looking into working with taxi and e-hailing providers to allow ride-sharing and to make sure the service from home to station will be optimised and cheaper,” he said at a press conference after a test ride on the new MRT2.

MRT2, or Phase 2 of the Putrajaya MRT Line, is slated to be fully operational in the middle of March. It covers a span of 57.7km with 36 stations from Kwasa Damansara to Putrajaya.

Asked about incorporating micromobility vehicles to resolve the first and last mile problem, Loke said the ministry would support any plan that could resolve the matter and encourage the use of public transport.

“However, we need a certain infrastructure to be in place before it can be allowed. We have to allow and encourage it, anything that helps the first mile, last mile (problem),” he said, noting that the previous government had banned micromobility vehicles from being used on roads.

In announcing the ban last year, then transport minister Wee Ka Siong said the use of micromobility vehicles on roads posed a danger to road users.

The ban involved mopeds, personal mobility devices and personal mobility aids. Wee had said later that the government would issue guidelines for micromobility vehicles. - FMT