Motorcycle ride-hailing app Angkas said Friday it is ready to resume operations and deploy partner divers once the government issues the new regulations on motorcycle taxis.
“We are ready to deploy our driver partners if needed. We are awaiting for the regulations and the guidelines from our regulators. We would not want to get ahead of them. We got already the approval in principle,” Angkas chief transport advocate George Royeca said in a virtual press briefing.
Angkas has about 30,000 partner drivers.
The Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of the Emerging Infectious Diseases earlier approved the resumption of motorcycle taxi pilot study.
“Transportation is at the core of the reopening of the economy. And it has always been the advocacy of Angkas to provide inclusive transportation safety to the public especially at this time of the pandemic when 60 percent of the workforce need to go back to work and only 40 percent of public transport is available,” Royeca said.
He said Angkas would be honored to be the bridge that closes that gap.
Angkas was in the last leg of the pilot service run when it halted its operations because of the pandemic, taking into consideration the strict safety protocols mandated by the government and health authorities on public transport.
The pilot run for the motorcycle taxis expired on March 23 this year.
The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board had allowed Angkas, Joyride and Move It to participate in the pilot test for motorcycle taxis in Metro Manila, Cebu and Cagayan de Oro.
The government imposed a cap of 63,000 bikers for the three players–45,000 bikers in Metro Manila, 9,000 in Cebu and 9,000 in Cagayan de Oro.
Angkas has 23,164 bikers in Metro Manila, 4,500 in Metro Cebu and 925 in Cagayan De Oro, while Joyride has 15,000 in Metro Manila, 4,488 in Metro Cebu and 198 in Cagayan de Oro.
Move It has 6,836 bikers in Metro Manila.
