Solons not keen on supporting tricycle ban on main roads

Friday, 20 May 2011 09:50

Lawmakers today urged the government to conduct studies and public consultation with the people, stakeholders and the local government units (LGUs) before initiating a ban on tricycles and pedicabs on highways and major thoroughfares to prevent road accidents.

Rep. Dante Antonio Tinio (Party-list, ACT) said the move will dislocate thousands of tricycle and pedicabs drivers who rely solely on plying the street as their source of income.

Tinio was reacting to the statement of Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo calling on local chief executives and members of the local legislative councils to ban tricycles and pedicabs on national roads.

The government should adopt alternative livelihood projects for those who will be affected if the ban on tricycle and pedicabs will push through, Tinio said.

According to Tinio, the tricycle is one of the most unique means of transportation in the country. "It can traverse highways, city streets, inner roads, alleys, dirt paths, and even places where there are no identifiable pathways," he said.

He said there should be a holistic approach on the traffic problem and accidents involving tricycles and pedicabs. "We cannot just ban this means of transportation in whole of the country since millions of people are getting their daily sustenance from it," he said.

Rep. Gabriel Quisumbing (6th District, Cebu) said the proposal might not be applicable to many parts of the country because of the distinct situations in each area.

Quisumbing said the government cannot discount the important role of the tricycle in transportation in many parts of the country especially those in far flung barangays.

"In Cebu, the tricycle drivers are considered as our major partners in development and so we want to make sure that whatever we decide to push in the name of peace and order is also sensitive to the needs of that sector and their families," Quisumbing said.

Rep. Irwin Tieng (Party-list, Buhay) said he is supporting the proposal because it is "proper and timely."

"I just hope that our local officials have the political will for its implementation and that the DILG must monitor and give sanctions to LGUs violating the said directive," Tieng said.

The Land Transportation Office (LTO) said the total vehicle registration in the Quezon City area alone exhibited a 114% increase from the 1990 - 2003. The city has 20,318 registered tricycles.

Pedestrian and vehicular accidents when combined as traffic-related injuries account for 30% of injuries in previously healthy children; and tricycle passenger injury ranks 4th in causing motor vehicle injuries.

Studies show that tricycles are known to rule the streets and even national highways. For instance, they are seen amid McArthur Highway leading a train of cars, buses, and trucks behind them, which often cannot overtake them and instead have to keep pace with them.