No decision made over S’pore-JB ride-hailing services during bilateral meeting: LTA
Singapore has no plans to fully liberalise ride-hailing services between Singapore and Johor Bahru (JB), said the Land Transport Authority (LTA).
LTA made this clarification in a Facebook post on Sunday (3 Aug) night, adding that a priority is to safeguard the interests of Singapore’s cabbies and private hire-vehicle (PHV) drivers.
Source: Xquisite Labs via 柔新关卡Both Checkpoint 分享站 on Facebook
Ministers discussed Singapore-JB ride-hailing proposal during meeting
LTA’s statement came after Singapore’s Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow met Johor Chief Minister Onn Hafiz Ghazi last Friday (1 Aug).
In a Facebook post on Sunday (3 Aug), Mr Siow said the two discussed many issues, including cross-border transport.
Source: Onn Hafiz Ghazi on Facebook
They also talked about “the importance of safeguarding the interests of our drivers and platform workers, and how LTA has been enhancing enforcement against illegal passenger and delivery services”, he added.
Mr Onn Hafiz touched on the issue in his own Facebook post on Friday, saying they discussed a proposal for a cross-border e-hailing service initiative, “as a new approach to facilitate movement”.
He noted that such a service would offer more flexible mobility options tailored to users’ needs, potentially reduce congestion and open up income opportunities for Malaysian drivers, adding:
It could also serve as a catalyst for a more user-friendly, safe and competitive transport system, while strengthening integration between both countries’ public transport networks.
Source: Onn Hafiz Ghazi on Facebook
His remarks were carried by Malaysian media, suggesting that Singapore is looking to introduce cross-border ride-hailing services.
No plans to ‘fully liberalise’ Singapore-JB ride-hailing services: LTA
LTA noted these reports but clarified that no decision was made on allowing cross-border ride-hailing services.
While LTA is “open to ideas to improve the cross-border commuting experience”, it has no plans to “fully liberalise” cross-border point-to-point transport, it said.
It noted that its key priorities in making any adjustments to cross-border transport are:
- To better meet commuter demand
- Safeguarding the interests of our taxi and PHV drivers
Existing cross-border taxi scheme not fully utilised
LTA pointed out that there is an existing Cross Border Taxi Scheme, where up to 200 taxis from each side are licensed to ferry passengers between Singapore and JB.
They can only be hailed at Ban San Street Terminal in Singapore and Larkin Sentral in JB.
Source: Google Maps
However, the existing quota of the scheme is “not fully utilised”, noted the LTA, urging drivers to take up the quota fully given commuter demand.
LTA is also considering enhancing this scheme by increasing the number of boarding and alighting points in both countries and introducing the use of ride-hailing apps to book these taxis.
M’sia requests that cross-border bus services start earlier
Mr Onn Hafiz also said that at the meeting, a proposal to extend the operating hours of cross-border bus services was discussed.
Currently, public bus services 160 and 170, operated by SBS Transit, as well as 950 operated by SMRT, start operations at timings between 5am and 5.50am, depending on whether it is a weekday or weekend/public holiday.
Source: Zaxis Tay via 柔新关卡Both Checkpoint 分享站 on Facebook
Private bus operators like Causeway Link, Transtar Travel and AC7 Bus also operate cross-border services.
Malaysia is requesting that these services start their operations from JB at 4am, LTA said.
The Star quoted a Johor state official as saying that Malaysians heading to Singapore to work and study would typically start queueing up at 4am, forming snaking queues.
Source: Mąñ Mąñ via 柔新关卡Both Checkpoint 分享站 on Facebook
Mr Onn Hafiz said extending the bus operation hours would help tackle congestion and ensure smoother traffic flow on the JB side.
LTA assessing whether bus operating times can be adjusted
However, LTA said a key consideration is that the first buses of these services should match the starting times of our local bus and MRT services when they arrive in Singapore.
It is assessing whether the operating times can be adjusted, including exploring with the operators whether they could bring forward the start times “slightly”, it added.
However, LTA also noted that this would involve having to ask private bus operators whether they could operate earlier services “at higher fares”.
Also read: M’sia Govt looking at easing S’pore-JB cross-border travel, tackling flood issues: PM Anwar
M’sia Govt looking at easing S’pore-JB cross-border travel, tackling flood issues: PM Anwar
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Featured image adapted from Onn Hafiz Ghazi on Facebook and Xquisite Labs via 柔新关卡Both Checkpoint 分享站 on Facebook.
