Cabs out, limousines in. Malaysian government sees that plan as clever.

According to Bernama, Malaysia intends to phase out budget and premier taxis plying the roads in the Klang Valley, replacing them with executive limousines.

Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board (CVLB) Chairman Datuk Markiman Kobiran was quoted as saying that the move would be implemented once the public transportation system has been upgraded. He added the move would take place in stages within the next 10 years.

According to Markiman, the CVLB is already freezing licenses for premier taxis and the operators of budget cabs have been told to upgrade their vehicles. The base rate of the executive limo is RM6 as compared to RM2 and RM4 budget cabs and premier taxis respectively.

Is the plan clever?

The plan drew criticism from dissenting consumers. Gurmukh Singh, a consumer and social activist, said at the RM6 base rate, the executive limousines are not for the lower income group as not all commuters in the Klang Valley can afford it.

"The moment you take your seat in a limousine, the fare meter reads RM6. Yes, the limousines maybe comfortable but not all Klang Valley residents are businessmen who can afford to pay the fare. Don't the authorities ever think of the handicapped? Most of them are poor. If they are well off, then they would not be taking the taxi ride," he noted.

Gurmukh said from past experience, the people could not solely rely on public transportation to move around. “Most of the public transport vehicles and their related facilities are not disabled-friendly,” he added. “For example if a wheelchair-bound person wants to get to the hospital, he can call for a budget cab and his wheelchair can be placed in the vehicle's boot.”

"We hardly find Rapid KL buses and Light Rail Transit (LRT) coaches being equipped with facilities for the handicapped," he said, adding that it would be very difficult for a crippled, what more a wheelchair-bound person to board a Rapid KL bus.

The federal government is shelling out RM10 billion over the new the next 3 to 4 years to upgrade public transportation in the Klang Valley. Putraline and Starline are the 2 LRT systems operating in the Klang Valley. Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd and Rapid KL have been entrusted by the government to improve the LRT services and put more buses on the roads.

Gurmukh said the RM6 base fare charged by limousines is exorbitant and would be a burden to the handicapped if the budget cabs are phased out. "It is a pity that when Malaysia is fast turning into a developed country, its public transportation facilities for the handicapped are still lacking," he said. "Therefore I hope the authorities would conduct a study first before phasing out the budget cabs and premier taxis and maybe reconsider their decision.”

Educationist Fatimah Mansur, meanwhile, lauded Markiman's statement that the CVLB is in the process of upgrading the taxi industry's quality of service. "But is there a guarantee that the public transport service has enough quality and the new system provides the public a service that commensurate with the amount of funds spent by the government?" she asked.

Fatimah also said a large number of taxi users are school children and housewives. Do not expect schoolchildren to be able to pay the limousine fare every time they need the cab service, she said.

According to Markiman, CVLB had begun discussions with taxi owners to replace their vehicles with the 2,000 cc executive taxis. "Much easier said than done," said Liu Meng Fong, the owner and operator of a budget taxi.

Liu said the transition would be quite easy for companies operating a fleet of taxis but not for individual taxi owners like him. "The move, if implemented would phase out taxi drivers like me as even now we barely earn enough money daily, considering the high gasoline price. They told us to upgrade our cabs, but this means we have to buy new limousines as the present budget cabs are of the 1,300 cc type.”

"Where to find the money to buy larger cars?" he asked. Lim said the move appear to benefit only the companies operating fleets of limousines.

"Improving the image of the taxi industry, yes. But is it really going to improve the service? The people on the street do not need to watch neither DVDs nor reading materials while they are taking a ride in the taxis. These are for the business people. Not for the school children or housewives. They only want to reach their destination safely and on time," concluded Fatimah.

Limo Service Raised Funds To Rescue Dogs October 24, 2007 Dogs are man's best friend so we should take care of them and that's what Mikey's Limo just did. In Europe, a record breaking event happened not long ago and it involved limousines and charity. At the said event, limo rental services attempted to break the world record for the longest queue of limousines. As part of the world record attempt, the organizers saw the event as a good way to raise funds for different charities. The event was held in Blackpool in England. Reports put the number of limousines to have participated at the event at 124. Thus, a new world record was set and thousands of pounds have been raised. Individuals who wanted to participate in the world-record breaking event are encouraged to charter limousines going to the event. The money raised by limo services will be halved, one half will go to the mayor of Blackpool's chosen charity while the other half will go to the selected charity of the limo service owner. For Mikey's American Limousines, the decision was easy. Steve and Colleen Grinhaff, owners of Mikey's American Limousines decide that their son Michael loves dogs, they would donate the money they have raised to Keith's Rescue Dogs, a charity involved in rescuing dogs and caring for them until they found a good home for the dogy's American Limousine donated a total of 225 pounds to Keith's which is definitely much more than what a Louisiana auto parts store would sell an auto component for. That amount will go a long way in caring for dogs which have been already rescued by the organization. At the end of the day, the owners of Mikey's American Limousine not only help record set a world record but they have also helped in caring for man's best friend. The couple is not the only one who helped charities as the 123 other limo services who participated at the event have also donated the money that they have raised during the event. funkylimos wrote @ 09:54 PM || Add a Comment Who Drives The Limo? October 26, 2007   Of course it’s the chauffeur! But what separates the chauffer from any ordinary driver? Let’s all find out! The chauffeur is the one who drives a vehicle as a means of livelihood. The sophisticated term may refer to anyone who drives for a living for it typically means a driver of a luxury sedan… specifically, a limousine. So the difference is, those who drive non-luxury cars are merely called as "drivers" (as in bus, taxi drivers etc.). In various countries, mostly progressing nations where supplies are all set and labor guarantees that still the average class can manage to pay for household personnel and along with the well-off who keep away from showing off, the chauffeur may basically be called the "driver." People at times hire chauffeurs in a full time basis to drive them in their own vehicles, or there are some special services offer limousines which include the chauffeurs for rent. The requirements needed to be a chauffeur differ on a case-to-case basis or depending on the location. The majority of the requirements are recognized on a state or municipality rank. In addition to a ordinary driver's license, some areas need a chauffeur to get an extra license, and to meet up driving experience requirements and definite least age. funkylimos wrote @ 07:04 PM || Add a Comment « 2007/09 | 2007/11 »