DOTr allows e-trikes for tourist transport

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has included electric tricycles (e-trikes) as tourist transport services which is seen as a welcome development to further promote the use of electric vehicles (e-vehicles) in the country.

The agency has issued a department order expanding the types of vehicles as transport services in tourist destinations across the country by including e-trikes, DOTr Undersecretary Mark Richmund De Leon said during the 7th Philippine Electric Vehicle Summit.

“To promote new and more sustainable public transportation solutions, and to support the country’s flourishing tourism industry, the Department shall include electric tricycles in the coverage of tourist transport services,” the department order read.

The Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines (EVAP) welcomed the DOTr’s move to include e-trikes in the country’s tourist areas.

“Our tourist areas are not only beautiful, but they will now be eco-friendly as well,” EVAP chairman Rommel Juan said.

However, the DOTr said e-trike units are only allowed to operate in tourism areas as defined by the Department of Tourism (DOT) or Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA).

“As stated in the department order, it will be DOT which should identify the areas where the e-trikes will be allowed to operate,” De Leon said.

“We don’t want e-trikes to be running along our major roads. We just want them in environmentally critical tourism areas,” he said.

Meanwhile, the DOTr mandated the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to promulgate the relevant implementing memorandum circular within 30 days from the issuance.

“The LTFRB will release a memorandum circular as implementing guidelines of the department order. We will have to wait for the memorandum circular of LTFRB and also the implementing guidelines of DOT,” De Leon said.

While e-trikes have managed to penetrate famous tourist areas such as Coron, Boracay, Puerto Princesa and Intramuros, the EVAP has been pushing for the use of other e-vehicles in tourist destinations, just like what Vietnam is doing.

Meanwhile, the DOT has been pushing for sustainability in the industry as it places environment protection as an important indicator of destination development.

One of the major sustainability projects of DOT was the six-month closure of Boracay last year to pave the way for the island’s rehabilitation.

To help in the island destination’s transition, the DOTr also signed a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) for the deployment of e-trikes in Boracay.