It is not easy being a Taxi Driver in Johor Bahru

Driving a Malaysia-registered car into SingaporeRobbery and Burglary Video in Johor Bahru

April 1st, 2009 lawrence.gan

Sometimes, the direct path to take when you are out of work is to rent a cab and be a taxi driver. After all, if you are willing to work hard, you might be able to take home a decent earning everyday. Of course, this assumes you are willing to put in 12 hours shifts consistently, including on weekends.

In Malaysia (and especially in Johor Bahru), things get a little complicated.

Firstly, if you adhere to using the meter, your passengers will smile or roll their eyes in disbelief. The RM$2 starting fare, set 13 years ago, is not even sufficient to buy you a plate of chicken rice. The incremental fare of 10sen/200m is just as incredulous. Cheap cheap!

Limsimi.com - Row of Taxis in Johor Bahru

And if you do the natural thing, which is to turn off the meter and charge a flat fee, you risk a fine if caught. On an especially irritating day, you have a Singaporean passenger that will blurt out in their typical clear and pronounced English: “Uncle, how can you not turn on the meter? Don’t cheat us! You must use the meter!!”

Fares aside, there are equally irritating matters that a taxi driver in Johor Bahru will encounter.

There are few designated taxi stands in Johor Bahru. You make a stop to pick up a passenger by the road side. Suddenly, someone taps on your window – The Man-in-White. Traffic Police who either enforces the law or makes a wink at you. Either way, you can be assured that your entire day’s taking will be gone.

On a clear day (when there is no Man-in-White), plain-clothes officers from the Johor Bahru Transport Council can also board your cab and do a spot check on you. If you do not wear a white sleeve shirt, or if you taxi is not spotlessly clean, you risk a fine. Or he too, can wink at you.

And if the lawful people does not get to you, your might have a chance with the lawless kind. Johor Bahru does not has an enviable crime rate.

Human factors aside, there are yet more irritating matters.

The Proton Saga you are driving hardly seems like a good workplace, especially when you look across the causeway and Taxi Drivers in Singapore are driving 2000cc Hyundai Sonatas, Skodas and even Toyota Camry. You get a terrible leg cramp from the clutch and backache from the poor suspension. The windows are not tinted and your right arm is similar to that of a trailer driver.

Things get worse at night. Except the main roads, the streets are not well lit and you really strain to distinguish a passenger from a Pontianak.

Once in 10 years, MPJB or the Johor Bahru City Council takes on a big project. For example, the new Johor Bahru CIQ throws the entire Jalan Wong Ah Fook into disarray. You are confused, scared and helpless. For a few days, you wonder around without any passengers in sight. The only comfort? You are not the only one affected.

Having mentioned only some of the bad things about being a Taxi Driver in Johor Bahru, there is one positive thing worth mentioning. Mm.. Parking is cheap!!

Note: The article is written based on the writer’s own opinion, and is meant to be satirical.

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Entry Filed under: News and Information

5 Comments Add your own

1. van der sar | April 4th, 2009 at 5:12 PM

If the taxi drivers in JB are unhappy if they look “south”, they can look northwards. In Thailand, the taxi drivers earn much less.

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2. Eguchi Toshinari | April 7th, 2009 at 12:59 AM

Proton Sagas are not used by the taxi companies in JB. Iswaras though are in service, and in abundance.

Also, there’s a handful of Wiras and Wajas that are increasingly making their ways onto the roads, servicing as taxis.

Quote:

” … Once in 10 years, MPJB or the Johor Bahru City Council takes on a big project. For example, the new Johor Bahru CIQ throws the entire Jalan Wong Ah Fook into disarray. You are confused, scared and helpless. For a few days, you wonder around without any passengers in sight”.

I’ve personally known a number of acquaintances who work as taxi drivers. The opening of the new CIQ, although did cause some problems for the taxi drivers, didn’t really pose a serious hindrance for them to find passengers.

There are many other locations and places in and around JB, where passengers could be found in aplenty.

eg City Square Mall is one such location

However, those small businesses; they are the ones that are most affected by the opening of the new CIQ.

[Reply]
3. hafizh | April 12th, 2009 at 1:10 PM

Here is an article from The Star. I pity the plight of taxi drivers. Fare price are obviously too low, yet nothing is done for them and the are even suggestions for them to hold part time jobs?!

From The Star:
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/4/12/nation/3681965&sec=nation

Decade-old fare structure turns taxi drivers into rogues

Sun, Apr 12, 2009
The Star/Asia News Network

PETALING JAYA, Malaysia: Taxi drivers are calling for a fare restructure, saying that the rates have not increased from the RM2 ($0.84) flag fare for more than 12 years.

Yet many taxi drivers, especially those who rent from taxi companies, need to pay about RM50 for rental and RM20 for natural gas each working day.

This does not take into account the vehicle’s maintenance cost and the drivers’ daily expenses.

It is learnt that the daily income of most taxi drivers totals an average of RM75 for about 12 hours of work.

The result? Ninety-eight per cent of taxi drivers – checked in a two-week Road Transport Department (JPJ) operation – flout the rules such as not using the meter and overcharging.

The biggest offence of all is refusing to pick up a paying passenger.

The Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board chief, Datuk Markiman Kobiran, even admitted in a recent press conference that it was running out of solutions to bring “rogue” taxi drivers to heel.

In fact, he likened the situation to a “war with no end like the war between the Israelis and the Palestinians”.

Markiman also said that a proposal had been sent to the Cabinet to review the fare structure of not just the taxi but also of rental cars, mini buses, stage coaches and express buses.

“We have not decided on anything. After extensive studies, we have submitted a paper to the Cabinet,” was all he could say when contacted on Thursday.

JPJ director-general Datuk Solah Mat Hassan said nothing less than a complete overhaul of the taxi system would solve the problem of the worsening quality of taxi services.

“The Government has got to overhaul the system to raise the standards (of taxi service),” he told The Star recently.

Solah said everything from the traffic flow system, locations of taxi stands and drivers’ ethics had to be reviewed.

In the meantime, Solah said taxi companies had to take self-regulation more seriously.

“Do you wait until the health enforcement officers come and tell you to close shop before you wash your shop? Of course not. This is my point,” he said.

“Owner-operators and cab companies should have stringent measures to vet their drivers. They should look at the background of the driver. You hired the fellow, you must make sure that he behaves.”

As for the individual permit holders, Solah said they could take different jobs if they felt being a taxi driver was too difficult to earn a living.

“And if you’re part-time, have you gotten permission from your employer to take on another job?” he said.

“If they still can’t earn a living, why not do other jobs? Did someone force them? Is it really true that you cannot earn a living?”

Responding to a suggestion that JPJ place more officers in taxi “hotspots” where most of the offences are being committed, Solah said they could only effectively watch over 30% of the drivers.

Furthermore, he pointed out that it was unrealistic for JPJ officers to ask every taxi driver whether they were using the meter.

“The driver would just tell his passenger that there was a JPJ officer earlier and promptly change the charged fare. This will make things worse,” he said.

Solah also revealed that the JPJ had only 650 enforcement officers to watch over Klang Valley’s 25,000 taxis and their drivers, not to mention the heavy vehicles, private vehicles and buses. -The Star/ANN

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4. YY | July 16th, 2009 at 10:47 AM

Oh I need 2 taxis for 1D tour in JB on 25July09, pls could you tell me how much u charge. we just want to go city sq, sentosa n back to taxi terminal to take singapore taxi back to spore. thanks !

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5. JCLS | October 17th, 2011 at 11:32 PM

I’m SPR, any exceptional or procedure to follow, for my to drive MY car into SG to pick my family – infant, 2+ yr daughter, wife, and disability father (registered) and mother. It is very difficult to get a cab for 4 adults, 1 kid and 1 infant (this is typical size of a family now, if 1 more kid…. please help me to think).

Anytime so long for us to pick and go, night time after 10pm or early morning before 7am. This timing will not cause traffic jam.

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