King of the road

Each time I go to Jakarta there seem to be fewer Bajaj three-wheelers, Indonesia’s version of the tricycle.

Thailand’s version, the tuk-tuk, is also becoming less ubiquitous in the streets of Bangkok.

In Beijing these days, bicycles can be found mainly along alleys in impoverished neighborhoods, or in parks where they are used for exercise. Beijing’s thoroughfares are instead crowded with BMWs, Mercedes Benzes and Tuaregs.

As mass transportation improves and rising incomes lead to higher private car ownership, inefficient modes of transportation disappear.

In some developing countries where three-wheeled conveyances, also called auto rickshaws, still cannot be phased out, authorities are promoting environment-friendly versions. In Pakistan, for example, compressed natural gas (CNG), which is less polluting than regular gasoline, fuels rickshaws. The three-wheelers are banned in the sleek avenues of the capital Islamabad.

Indonesia’s Bajaj automotive company is also phasing out its two-stroke three-wheelers and replacing them with CNG-powered ones.

In this aspect the Philippines is again being left behind. Tricycles, and worse, pedicabs venture even into major thoroughfares such as Roxas Boulevard. The latest incarnation of the three-wheeled conveyance, the kuliglig, combines the inefficiency of the pedicab and the polluting capacity of the tricycle.

The Manila city government now wants to keep the kuliglig out of major thoroughfares. And like the bratty bus drivers and operators who staged a wildcat strike to oppose their inclusion in the number-coded traffic reduction scheme along EDSA, the kuliglig drivers also went on strike the other day.

They probably realized that their absence would not be missed by commuters, so they made sure they would attract sufficient attention: they blocked traffic around the Manila City Hall, one of the busiest areas in the city.

Traffic was tied up for hours all over the city as the protesters battled anti-riot cops with rocks and empty bottles. The cops finally dispersed the protesters with water cannons.

That protest action wasn’t the exercise of a right. It was anarchy.

* * *

Many cops are reluctant to go after undisciplined tricycle or pedicab drivers. Some cops receive protection money from operators to look the other way when three-wheelers ply major thoroughfares, but others simply think they should live and let live, especially when dealing with the poor.

In fact like the buses on EDSA, those tricycles, pedicabs and kuliglig are rarely owned by drivers. The owners are typically far from impoverished, and they operate a business that pays no taxes. In some Metro Manila cities, tricycle operators are required to obtain business permits and licenses from the local government, but local authorities don’t keep track of all these vehicles.

Everywhere, fares for these three-wheeled public conveyances are unregulated. Often, operators simply consult village associations or barangay officials regarding fares. It’s not unusual for the amounts to be double or triple the fares in jeepneys even within Metro Manila; fares are usually higher at night.

This business has also escaped coverage under the Clean Air Act.

It’s not surprising then that kuliglig drivers and operators will harbor the illusion of being above the law; the environment has nurtured that belief.

The only improvement in this business in recent years is that drivers and commuters alike have learned to wait in line for orderly loading at tricycle and kuliglig “terminals.” Once the vehicles are out of the terminals, however, anything goes.

There are ways of improving the income of poor drivers without putting them above the law or making their means of livelihood a source of inconvenience for the motoring public.

And if the country cannot get rid of three-wheeled public conveyances, authorities should at least upgrade the product.

Three-wheelers can be the best modes of transportation in countries with streets that are too narrow for regular vehicles – especially streets whose centuries-old paving need to be protected from heavy vehicular traffic.

Such streets are common in Italy, which gave the world the Vespa scooter and the Piaggio Ape in 1948, a motorized three-wheeled mini taxi that must have been the inspiration for Asia’s tuk-tuks and tricycles. The 21^st century version of the Ape is now also being produced in India, an exporter of three-wheelers.

* * *

Thailand, not surprisingly, is ahead in the export game. Apart from developing more environment-friendly and efficient versions for the streets of Bangkok, the country is exporting the tuk-tuk to Europe, with the product passing the strict vehicle emission standards of the European Union.

MMW Tuk-Tuks Co. Ltd. of Thailand is shipping tuk-tuks with CNG engines to Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK. MMW markets also include Australia and New Zealand. Why didn’t Filipinos think of this one?

Instead of developing the three-wheeled ride of the modern world, we still have the pedicab on major thoroughfares, with the drivers often teenage boys.

In other countries, drivers of three-wheelers need to be in uniform or at least in neat clothing. In our country, the typical pedicab driver is too poor to bother about grooming and is often in dire need of a bath.

The kuliglig moves faster than the pedicab, but the noxious fumes from the buzzing engine will suffocate the commuter throughout the ride.

If we can’t get rid of these public conveyances, we have to do two things: regulate their operations, and upgrade the product.

Other countries have shown the way. These are not impossible tasks.