Trisikad woes

Trisikads, bicycles with sidecars that can accommodate up to three passengers that are also known as padyaks in the Luzon area, have been very useful in the outskirts of every city or municipality here in Cebu. This type of transport has covered areas that are not part of the routes of major modes of transportation like jeepneys and buses.

Talisay City residents like me have benefitted a lot from trisikads. During the pre-trisikad time, I had to walk at least a kilometer from the Cansojong main road where jeepneys pass by, to our house. Now, a P5 trisikad ride will take me home.

But while I am very thankful to whoever thought of having trisikads as public transport to cover short distances, I have some problems with their existence. Who regulates their operations? Who regulates the fare they charge? What happens when they get into accidents?

Here in Talisay, the different barangays are the ones who take care of trisikad registrations. You will know that a trisikad is registered with a certain barangay because the trisikad has a plate number on it. But as far as I know, trisikad regulation stops there, at the issuing of plates.

Unlike in tricycles, jeepneys, buses and taxis, no one regulates trisikad fares. From the Cansojong main road to our house is P5. Some drivers charge P5 from our house to neighboring barangay Tangke, some ask for P10. Same goes when you go to neighboring barangay Poblacion, though there are drivers who ask for P15 or sometimes P20. The confusion on fare rates has often caused arguments between passengers and trisikad drivers.

Trisikad drivers, of course, do not have licenses. Anybody who knows how to bike can drive a trisikad. There are no age limits too when it comes to driving these babies, whether you are a senior citizen or just an 8-year-old boy, as long as you can maneuver a trisikad.

Because no one regulates trisikad operations and drivers, no one also takes care of accidents that involve trisikads. Just like the time when I accompanied my son to his school in barangay San Roque, Talisay. Two trisikads racing each other slammed into a parked Honda Civic, dislodged a rearview mirror and scratched and dented the car.

The car owner, who was the mother of my son’s schoolmate, brought the trisikad drivers to the barangay hall and demanded for payment because having the car repaired would cost her at least P15,000. But how can a trisikad driver who earns at most P80 a day and who has to pay half of his earnings as rent for the trisikad pay for the damage he has caused? As punishment, the barangay impounded the trisikad. But what is the assurance that the driver, who does not have a license and whose driving is not regulated by any agency, will not rent another trisikad and go about his business like nothing happened? I have heard of other accidents involving trisikads and most of these accidents just ended with the trisikad driver scratching his head.

Trisikads are all over. They have become an accepted mode of transport. It is time that their operations are regulated, the fares they charge, the drivers. It is about time that they answer for accidents they cause. The abuses of some trisikad drivers will go on if nothing is done to regulate them.

Presidentiable Mar Roxas made use of trisikads in a television ad. Maybe he can do something about this and solve our trisikad woes.