After almost four years in limbo, the Dego Ride motorcycle taxi service is now officially back on the streets of Klang Valley, Putrajaya and Shah Alam on the first day of the new decade with over 700 approved riders.
Dego Ride was founded by Nabil Feisal Bamadhaj, who is also the chief executive officer of the company, in 2015.
It launched its service in November 2016 and had about 5,000 riders registered with the company at the time. After three months of operations and completing 20,000 bookings, the motorcycle ride-sharing service was banned by the previous Barisan Nasional government.
Then-Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Abdul Aziz Kaprawi cited safety concerns by pointing out the number of road accidents in 2016 as the reason which compelled the former administration to ban the service.
According the New Straits Times Dego Ride announced last year that it would resume its services following Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman’s proposal for Indonesia-based company, Gojek, to enter the Malaysian market.
This follows the announcement by Transport Minister Anthony Loke in November last year that the government would allow ride-hailing firms to start motorcycle hailing operations on a limited scale for six months, starting Jan 2020.
Loke had said that during the period, ride-hailing firms would be able to run their operations or proof-of-concept (POC) in Kuala Lumpur to prepare and test their service.
Nabil said the Dego Ride will offer a solution to the current first and last-mile disconnect from the nearest public transportation systems for residents in the Klang Valley, Shah Alam and Putrajaya.
The Star reported that the company is looking to expand its coverage to other regions and states in March, and is in the process of vetting over 4,000 rider applications.
However, the newspaper added that Dego Ride is looking for more female riders, as riders can only cater to passengers of their own gender.
"Under Dego Ride, male and female riders will cater to passengers of their own gender," Mr Nabil said at the launch ceremony of the Dego Ride app at its headquarters in Taman Melawati at the edge of Kuala Lumpur, as quoted by The Straits Times.
"We call on more women rider to join us, as there has been high demand from female passengers for their last mile connections," he said.
At the moment, only about 100 female riders have signed up with less than 50 approved.
Meanwhile, Grab also has joined the fray with GrabBike, although the Singaporean-based company is only providing motorcycle ride-hailing in the KLCC, Bukit Bintang, Pudu and Chow Kit areas for the moment.
