Motorcycle transport sharing firm seeks removal of riders’ cap
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Wed, 08 Jan 2020 06:43:47 +0000
EMBATTLED Angkas has asked for the removal of the 10,000 cap that the government has set for all motorcycle transport providers “because the market is still terribly underserved and we need more bikers on the road”.
In a press conference on Wednesday, George Royeca, chief transport advocate of the transport sharing firm, warned anew that thousands of its riders may also lose their jobs or worse, there would be a proliferation of the “habal habal” or uninsured motorcyle drivers.
“What we really want is to have the cap removed or increase the cap for all motorcycle providers, not just Angkas because the market is still terribly underserved and we need more bikers on the road,” said Royeca.
He said the 27,000 riders of Angkas are a combination of part-timers and full-timers, which meant that the actual number of bikers on the streets was much less.
“The bikers that are actually on the streets when you need them is much much less, right? Hindi po siya buong 30,000 sa daan,” said Royeca.
Royeca also said that Angkas offered an alternative form of transportation and was not fo everyday use.
“Motorcycle taxis are meant to be an alternative form of transportation meaning ang pinakamataas po naming customer (the highest number of customers we have) is three times a week, yan po yung talagang gamit niya (that is its real use), emergency, sobrang traffic mahaba ang pila o kung anuman so kailangan ko (heavy traffic or for whatever I can use it for), I have to get there.”
In terms of its safety record, Royeca said Angkas only has 0.003 percent accidents with no fatalities. He said that over the past months, the transport sharing firm has had 50 retraining activities for their riders.
Royeca clarified that Angkas’ fight was with a particular provision and not with the government agencies.
He assured transport authorities that they would try their best to comply with government rules and regulations. LIEZELLE ROY