Beginning this year, all gasoline-powered tricycles, “kuliglig” (motorized rickshaw), and pedicabs (bicycle with a sidecar) will be a thing of the past in all streets of Manila.
Mayor Joseph Estrada confirmed that the city government of Manila plans to remove all three-wheeled motorized vehicles from the streets of Manila to make way for environment-friendly electric tricycles or e-trikes.
Estrada said he hopes that this year there will be no more such vehicles in all streets of Manila.
He said the city government wants Manila to become the e-trike capital of the Philippines.
“We want Manila to be known as a ‘green city,’ one that is uncluttered, where people can travel on e-bikes without the noise [from regular bikes], and a clean city,” Estrada said.
The “easy-breezy” e-trike, the mayor said, is a seven-seater that can travel up to 80 kilometers on a single four-hour charge.
About 20,000 tricycles ply Manila’s city streets.
The city government will distribute 10,000 e-trikes to qualified tricycle drivers in Manila, Estrada said.
The e-trike will be paid through a “drive-to-own” scheme, where the operator-driver will pay P150 a day without interest and within four years.
The city government has already distributed e-trikes to a number of operator-drivers in Binondo, Sta. Cruz area, Malate and Ermita. It plans to put up pickup stations and two charging stations to be made available for e-trike operators.
Estrada said there will be many routes, and additional e-trike stations will be put up in the University Belt, Port Area, and other routes in the city.
Aside from being better for the environment, e-trikes will help increase the income of tricycle drivers, the mayor said. Tricycle drivers are paying a daily “boundary” fee of P150 to their operators and are spending P200 for gasoline.
“That means they have to earn at least P350 per day before they can bring home income to their families,” Estrada said.
With the e-trike, the driver will not spend a single centavo for gasoline, and the battery charging will be shouldered by the city government.
“We need the poor to gain relief, and through this e-trike program, they won’t have to deal with the boundary system they are only required to pay a daily fee between P150 to P200, and after four years, they will own the e-trike. They will be their own bosses, they won’t have to work for others,” Estrada said.
