No plans for motorcycle ride-sharing in Malaysia: Loke

The Malaysian government has no plans to legalise or introduce motorcycle ride-hailing services anytime soon, said transport minister Anthony Loke. This is to protect the safety of riders and passengers, in view of the high rate of motorcycle incidents recorded nationwide, according to a report in The Sun.

“Of course the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD), which is the responsible party for such things, would study the implementation of motorcycle ride-hailing, but for me personally, I am not ready to agree with this,” Loke said in response to a question by Rembau member of Parliament Khairy Jamaluddin.

Motorcycle ride-sharing services are popular in neighbouring Indonesia, which has its own service known as Go-Jek. The Malaysian government had only recently regulated ride-sharing services for cars, and the matter was a difficult one to address in order to please all stakeholders, Loke added.

“It was not easy to regulate the cars, what more if it involves motorcycles. But if there are any other more specific suggestions, we can review and study,” he said. Last year, the then-transport ministry declared motorcycle taxi services illegal, effectively outlawing Dego Ride which was known to be offering such a service at the time.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian public can expect the RM100 monthly public transportation pass to be introduced by early next year, as promised by the Pakatan Harapan coalition in its election manifesto, the transport minister added.

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