Taxi services and cabbies are in the limelight now, and the
issues range from plans to turn 4,000 drivers into taxi ambassadors to calls
for a safety net to address their plight.
My detailed records may be useful to the Land Public Transport
Commission which is doing six months’ research to address the concerns of
cabbies.
I made a down payment of RM3,500 to take delivery of a Proton
Saga taxi and another RM48,678 in instalments over a three-year period under a
rental purchase scheme. The 36 instalments worked out to an average of RM1,352 monthly
or RM45 a day.
My payments may be lower than others as I enjoyed preferential
rates as a former driver for the taxi company, and monthly payments were
promptly settled every month.
Payments for the last three years were for renting the permit
that included renewal of road tax and motor insurance, totaling RM18,553 or
RM515 a month.
The first year’s income derived from metered fares and tips
amounted to RM39,775 but dropped to RM21,619 in the second year before
deducting expenses.
From the fourth to sixth year, I had to take up office jobs
and my taxi income amounted to only RM7,653 during this three-year period or
RM159 a month, excluding expenses.
The taxi fetched a relatively higher price when it was sold to
the taxi company for RM9,000. After six years of careful driving without any
major collision or engine overhaul, it had clocked only 289,409km or 4019km a
month.
Over six years, total fuel (NGV + petrol) consumed was
RM19,017 and maintenance, including minor collision repairs, was RM11,104. This
worked out to an operating cost of 10.4 sen per km, excluding toll and parking
charges.
Now, how do we resolve the many problems faced by cabbies?
The public often calls for permits to be granted directly to
the drivers with the notion that it will solve most of the problems at one
stroke. It may be a fallacy, as monthly installments for the rental purchase
scheme will be replaced by a hire purchase loan, that is if the driver is
successful in getting one.
Granted, payments to a bank without having to pay for rental
of permit would be lower, but the difference is minimal compared to other
factors.
Drivers who have been operating taxis since the year 2000 will
testify that incomes have been decreasing yearly with the increase of metered
taxis. The most noticeable evidence is the long taxi queue at many shopping
centres, as it does not pay to cruise the streets for roadside passengers.
On this score, the executive taxi drivers are worse off and
many spent their days waiting indefinitely for passengers at hotels and a few
other high-end places such as KLCC.
While executive taxi drivers are happy with their meter rates
at RM6 for the first km, RM2 for subsequent km and RM36 per hour, budget taxi
drivers have been perplexed with the odd rates in force since August 2009.
The first km can remain at RM3. The charge for distance should
be raised from 87 sen a km to RM1 (10 sen every 115m to 100m) and time
from RM17.14 an hour to RM18 (10 sen every 21 seconds to 20 seconds).
The next round of increase for budget taxis should raise the meter fare
to RM1.25 per km or 10 sen for every 80m and RM20 per hour or 10 sen for every
18 seconds.
We ought to bear in mind that many taxis on the road are no
longer 10-year old Proton Sagas but more costly Wiras and Wajas.
The newer budget taxis can range from the current model Proton Sagas
specially fitted with 1.6 litre engines to Proton Exoras.
I made a presentation to the Malaysia Productivity
Corporation, four years ago, giving a comparison of taxi fares for a 5km ride
in 10 cities.
It ranged from RM5.85 in Kuala
Lumpur to RM74. in London . Interestingly, the black cabs in London run on two shifts and the largest groups of golfers
in Britain
are cabbies.
The task to resolve the many problems faced by local taxi drivers
will be long and arduous. SPAD can start with granting permits only to taxi
drivers that are professionally trained and willing to be closely monitored on
their behaviour and health.
A heavily subsidised health scheme should be drawn up for
cabbies to participate. They must be physically and mentally healthy with
incentives given to those who lead a healthy lifestyle and refrain from
smoking, consuming alcoholic drinks or taking drugs.
They should be required to undergo a comprehensive medical
examination annually in order to renew their Public Service Vehicle (PSV)
licence and not just produce a dubious signed form at the Road Transport
Department by runners on their behalf.
As comprehensive motor insurance premiums are high, almost all
taxis are covered for third party claims only. In the event of an accident,
many of the existing cabbies turned to loan sharks for a loan to pay for
repairs and cover loss of income during downtime.
The business cards of loan sharks are regularly distributed at
Natural Gas for Vehicles (NGV) stations where cabbies converge.
Participating drivers with good records should be allowed easy
access to temporary loans for tiding over difficult periods.
In this way, taxi drivers will value their permits and make
sure they are in their best behaviour and health in order to qualify for the
safety nets put in place.
The main reason why there are so many bad taxi drivers around is that
they have little to lose and much to gain from ripping off passengers, apart
from poor enforcement.
Cabbie Ismail Osman aka Tom was touted as a fine example of
perseverance and patience by a newspaper columnist.
He had to “Kais pagi, makan pagi; kais petang, makan petang” but
managed to raise a son from infancy into college by driving a taxi.
Tom, 51 passed away due to ill health more than 3 weeks ago. He was a
beneficiary and a victim of our archaic taxi system and there are many more
like him eking out a living.
SPAD has rightfully urged interested groups not to politicise issues
relating to taxi operations. Lest we forget, populist moves by politicians in
the past have resulted in the chaos in much of our bus and taxi services.
Some taxi drivers may feel empowered with the impending General
Election but politicians who will promise anything just to be elected may use
them as pawns.
Let us be warned that continuous knee-jerk responses for expediencies
will drive the industry deeper into the abyss.
Cabbies are a manifestation of the entire supply chain and a reflection
of our society. Those in power or jostling for it should act more
professionally before we can expect our cabbies to do the same.
YS Chan
Kuala Lumpur
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