Mandaue tricycles now allowed to ferry 2 passengers per trip

Councilor Jimmy Lumapas, chairman of the committee on transportation of the Manadue City Council. |Mary Rose Sagarino

MANDAUE CITY, Philippines — Tricycles in Mandaue City can ferry two passengers per trip starting today, May 19, 2021.

This after the resolution of City Councilor Jimmy Lumapas, chairman of the committee on transportation, was approved by the city council on its regular session earlier today.

The fare per passenger was also reduced from P25 to P20.

Lumapas said this was their agreement with the Tricycle-For-Hire Franchising Regulatory Board (TFHFRB) during last week’s meeting.

Lumapas said the first passenger will sit inside the tricycle while the other one will sit at the back with a plastic barrier installed between the driver and the passenger.

He said that the tricycle drivers had been requesting this for quite some time now.

“Dugay na sila’ng naghangyo ani hilabi na nga aduna nay mga habal-habal nga makasulod bisan asa nga rota nya sila ron ang tricycle dili man sila ka agi sa national highway so nakuhaan gyud maayo ang ila’ng income,” said Lumapas.

He added that passengers of other public transportation like Public Utility Jeepneys, buses, and Angkas are also already very close to each other and have no enough space.

Mayor Jonas Cortes said it is just also right to allow this as tricycle drivers really did their best to comply with all the city’s guidelines.

“Agi ni og pagsabot sa sitwasyun sa atong mga tricycle drivers. (Na) Alkanse gyud (sila),” said Cortes.

Drivers who will be caught carrying more than the allowed passengers per trip will be apprehended by the Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue (TEAM).

It can be recalled that the city imposed the one-passenger policy for tricycles last year because of the COVID-19 situation.

Last June 2020, tricycles in the city were able to ply the barangay roads again after months of no operation.

This after the City Council approved Lumapas’ resolution adopting the resolution of TFHFRB on the issuance of Special Permit to Operate (SPO) for tricycles and other safety protocols.

Currently, there are 1,205 registered tricycles plying in the city’s 27 barangays.

Lumapas said the tricycles were still classified into five zones.

Zone 1 or Red Zone are those plying in Barangays Casuntingan, Cabancalan, Maguikay, Tingub, Tabok, Pagsabungan and Canduman.

Zone 2 or Blue Zone are those plying Barangays Paknaan, Jagobiao, Basak, and Labogon.

Zone 3 or White Zone are tricycles plying in Barangays Mantuyong, Centro, Ibabao-Estancia, Opao, Umapad, Looc, Cambaro, and Alang-Alang.

Zone 4 or Yellow Zone are those plying in barangays Banilad, Cabancalan, Tipolo, Casuntingan, and Bakilid while Zone 5 or Orange Zone are for those plying in Barangays Casili, Cubacub, and Tawason. /rcg