Win-win for passengers, taxi drivers.

Date: 16 February 2013

Win-win for passengers, taxi drivers.

SEPANG: VISITORS and locals at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) now have the option to board city taxis instead of solely relying on the airport limousine.

According to sources, the restriction that only airport limousines can pick up passengers from the terminal has been relaxed following complaints that the services could not meet the high demand. There were also complaints about long waits, in some instances up to two hours, to  get their rides homes.

A source also said that about 200 registered privately-owned city taxis were allowed to pick up passengers from KLIA. He said, due to lack of resources, city taxis can now ferry passengers to and from the airport.

"Taxi drivers who are interested to provide this service need to register with Airport Limo Sdn Bhd. Once the registration is done, the applications are submitted to the Land Public Transport Commission for notification. After that, the drivers can start picking up passengers from the airport," he said.

The taxi fares, he added, go by zones. The fares from KLIA are RM74.30 to KL Sentral; RM64.50 (Seremban); RM159 (Malacca); and RM64.40 (Shah Alam and Petaling Jaya).

Taxi driver K.P. Vijayan said many privately-owned taxi drivers welcomed the move as they are able to earn a higher income when they can pick up passengers from the airport. "I prefer to drive up to KLIA and pick up passengers from the airport rather than in the city. This is because there are too many taxis in the city and we have to face the heavy traffic daily. There is also the certainty of getting passengers at KLIA compared with the city. The charges are similar to the limousine service, based on destinations," he said.

However, Vijayan said they are only allowed to pick up passengers from the airport at certain peak hours and to certain destinations. "There are two time slots when we are allowed to pick up airport passengers -- from 6am to 10am and 2pm and 6pm." He said the furthest destination they were allowed to take their passengers to is Malacca, adding that his furthest trip so far is to Selayang.

According to taxi driver Koo Wai Kin, the previous restriction of not allowing city taxis to pick up passengers from KLIA meant they had to return empty leg. "Some taxi drivers charged higher fares to KLIA as they had to come back without passengers. Now, it's a win-win situation for passengers and taxi drivers." He said, despite a RM5 deduction for every trip, taxi drivers still make a profit.

Meanwhile, a limousine driver who wished to be known as Guna said the new system has helped to improve the service at KLIA.

"Passengers no longer have to wait in a long queue for a taxi now that privately-owned taxis are also available. So far, there is no problem between limousine and city taxi drivers," he said.

By C. PREMANANTHINI AND NOR AIN MOHAMED RADHI | streets@nstp.com.my

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