BAD news for patrons of motorcycle taxis: They will cease to exist after the technical working group (TWG) completes its study on the viability of the emerging transport service.
Land Transportation
Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) member Antonio Gardiola, who heads the
TWG, said the government will no longer allow for any extensions of the
motorcycle taxi pilot program, unless legislators come up with a law amending
the existing transportation code.
“After three months, the pilot
program will be terminated—that’s it—because there is no law allowing it yet,”
he said.
The use of motorcycles as commercial transport vehicles is prohibited under the Land Transportation and Traffic Code. However, due to public clamor, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) decided in July to run a pilot testing of the service via Angkas.
Due to the lack of data, according to Transportation Undersecretary Mark de Leon, the agency decided to extend the pilot run for another three months, now with the inclusion of two new players, JoyRide and Move It.
“After March, when we submit our findings to Congress, the program will be terminated,” Gardiola said. “No one can say that we can allow them because there is no law. If the law says its illegal, then it’s illegal.”
He made the remarks two days after the DOTr issued an open letter to Angkas management, telling it to stop using “emotional blackmail” in seeking to overturn the TWG recommendation for Angkas to shed 17,000 of its 27,000 biker force during the three-month extension period that starts after the lapse of the first trial run on December 26.
Regulators have come under fire from the public, for whom the motorbike taxis exemplified by Angkas have provided a cheap, faster way to go through Metro Manila’s horrible traffic.