‘Transport plan should include motorcycles’

MANILA, Philippines — Motorcycle taxi service provider Angkas is urging the government to include two-wheeled units in its mobility plan to ensure that infrastructure projects are ready for future demand.

Angkas CEO George Royeca told reporters it may be too late to set up a motorcycle lane in EDSA given the volume of vehicles passing through the main thoroughfare in Metro Manila.

Royeca said the best thing to do is include motorcycles in the transport plan to provide them with road spaces for future developments.

“The ideal thing to do is to put motorcycles as part of the development of the infrastructure from the get go. There is not much we can do in EDSA right now because everyone is trying to really cram different types of vehicles in this main thoroughfare,” Royeca said.

“This is one of the reasons I asked President Marcos and Transport Secretary Jaime Bautista to put motorcycles as part of the national transport plan. If motorcycles are not part of the national transport plan, then we are not hearing from one of the largest modes of transportation in our country,” he added.

For Angkas, the inclusion of two-wheeled units in the transport plan would benefit its growing fleet.

Royeca said Angkas presently maintains a fleet of roughly 26,000 riders, serving the transport needs of commuters in urban areas like Metro Manila.

Further down the line, Royeca said the leading player in motorcycle taxis wants to infiltrate more areas in the provinces pending the approval of its regulator.

In April, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) announced its intent to dedicate an exclusive lane for motorcycles in EDSA. The DOTr estimates that more than 170,000 motorcycles traverse the highway every day.

The DOTr wants motorcycles to travel through a single lane only to allocate the rest of EDSA for other modes of transport. The agency aims to mitigate the traffic mess in the highway in its push to put up a motorcycle lane.

Meanwhile, Angkas is gearing up to enter the four-wheeled market by the third quarter of the year, as it is introducing its own transport network vehicle service (TNVS).

The service, called Angcars, will bring to the streets another player in the TNVS market, offering the riding public an alternative to ride-hailing giant Grab.