Motorists and commuters, especially low-income workers continue to experience heavy traffic in Metro Manila daily.
The latest study shows that motorists in the National Capital Region lose 20 minutes per 30-minute trip during rush hour in the morning and 29 minutes per 30-minute trip during rush hour in the evening. This meant commuters loss 188 hours — equivalent to seven days and 20 hours.
Lawmakers agree with the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority which said that the Philippines need an efficient, safe and comfortable mass transport system. The one possible solution: Motorcycle Taxi.
Both the Senate and the Lower House have proposed a bill seeking to allow and regulate the use of motorcycles as public utility vehicles. The bill acknowledged the role of “safe, reliable, and affordable” public transportation as a means to provide people with a better quality of life.
Thus, the use and regulation of motorcycles as an alternative mode of public transportation has been proposed to provide convenience and ease the commute in urban and rural areas.
Transportation department spokesperson Goddess Hope Libiran said the government at present is allowing motorcycle taxi operators — Angkas, Move It and Joyride — to operate after the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) endorsed the resumption of the motorcycle taxi pilot study program.
Senator Ralph Recto is optimistic that President Rodrigo Duterte, who he described as “biker-in-chief” (for being a motorcycle rider), will sign into law the Motorcycle Taxi Bill, which lifts the 56-year ban on two-wheelers as a PUV.
But Recto said the motorcycle taxis should only be allowed on the road again if they will meet “stringent health and safety standards” that the government will impose.
At the House of Representatives, Makati City congressman Luis Campos Jr. also authored House Bill 8855, or the proposed Act Authorizing Motorcycle Taxi Operations.
“Considering that motorcycle taxis have been mainstreamed by mobile ride-hailing applications, we might as well legalize their operations and set standards for drivers to protect the riding public,” Campos said.
