8,000 additional motorcycle taxis to operate outside Metro Manila

MANILA, Philippines — The 8,000 additional motorcycle taxis will operate outside Metro Manila and no additional units will be allowed to operate within the metropolis, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista clarified over the weekend.

Bautista gave assurance that no additional motorcycle taxis will be allowed to operate in the National Capital Region (NCR) amid opposition from transport groups.

He clarified this after the House committee on Metro Manila development pushed for a moratorium on the expansion of motorcycle taxi operations.

Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board Chairman Teofilo Guadiz recently announced that the LTFRB authorized at least 8,000 more units of motorcycle taxis and the agency stopped the expansion as the pilot study is scheduled to end in May.

Guadiz said 2,000 slots each were given to four more motorcycle taxi players and the new companies have until April 15 to complete their allocation.

The technical working group is expected to submit the pilot study’s result, Bautista said.

Guadiz chairs the TWG assigned to carry out the pilot study of motorcycle taxi services in the country.

The LTFRB is currently identifying provincial routes where the additional motorcycle taxis can operate, Bautista noted.

The pilot study took more than five years to ensure more information for the TWG, he added.

The LTFRB will draft its recommendations and it is up to Congress whether or not it will adopt the report, Guadiz said.

Various transport groups have appealed to President Marcos to stop the expansion of motorcycle taxis in Metro Manila.

The Coalition of Transport Sectors urged Marcos to order the LTFRB to limit the expansion of motorcycle taxis to areas outside the NCR, where the adverse effects on traffic congestion might be less severe.