Dego Ride ban: We need to emulate developed cities, says deputy minister

Dego Ride.

KUALA LUMPUR: Cities here need to move away from motorcycle-taxis and follow the example of more advanced cities such as Singapore, Tokyo and New York that do not allow such public transportation.

Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said this was one of the reasons why his ministry has banned the motorcycle ride-sharing application Dego Ride.

“We want to emulate these developed nations where the cities are more environmentally-friendly; they do not have motorcycle taxis there.

“Our Government has also created many transportation options for the public.

“For example, we have the monorail, commuter, mass rapid transit (MRT) and light railway transit (LRT),” he said in Parliament on Wednesday, in reply to Dr Mansor Abdul Rahman (BN-Sik).

Mansor had asked why the Government does not follow other cities such as Jakarta and Manila where motorcycle-taxis are allowed.

Abdul Aziz said that apart from wanting to emulate developed countries, safety is the other reason why motorcycle-taxis are not allowed in Malaysia.

The Cabinet announced a ban on Dego Ride in February, with the Transport Ministry pointing out that in 2016, there were 521,466 accidents that killed 7,152 people.

Of these, motorcyclists contributed to 62.7% of deaths on the road, compared with car drivers (20.8%), pedestrians (7.1%), and lorries (2.6%), the ministry said, citing data from the Royal Malaysian Police.

The risk of fatality and being seriously injured when one travels on a motorcycle is also 48 times higher compared with travelling on a bus and 6.2 times higher than in a car over the same distance, the ministry said then.