E-bikes, e-trikes ban on NCR national roads anti-poor -commuter, transport groups

The ban on tricycles, pushcarts, pedicabs, kuligligs, e-bikes, e-trikes, and light e-vehicles (EVs) on national roads in Metro Manila was anti-poor, several commuter and transport groups said on Friday.

“I mean I don’t see rich people using kariton do they?” Manila Bike Commuter’s Janardan das Ladyong told GMA News Online.

“Kidding aside, [the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority] is treating these major thoroughfares as limited access expressways when they are not. Most of the time they are the main way people move,” Ladyong said.

For Manila Bike Commuter, the ban imposed by the MMDA “shuts out marginalized sectors from using our roads.”

“These affordable EVs are basically cars for the masses. It’s their personal vehicle to purchase groceries, for hospital visits, as their mobility device, to bring kids to school, etc,” Ladyong said.

“By banning e-trikes and e-bikes, MMDA and the MMC are basically telling these marginalized sectors to aspire to get a car instead.”

Atty. Ariel Inton of the Lawyers for Commuters Safety and Protection (LCSP) pointed out that many motorists shifted to e-trikes due to lack of public transportation and to save from high prices of fuel.

“Many shifted to using e-trikes because of the lack of public transport and in order to save on fuel consumption or the high cost of fares, plus, to ease their travel hardships as commuters,” Inton told GMA News Online.

“Regulation should not be arbitrary. Let us allow the use of e-trikes but in a safe manner to the user and other motorists,” he added.

While the LSCP is for regulating e-trikes, Inton noted that “The MMDA and other government agencies must conduct first a public hearing so that we can come out with regulations that address also the concern of e-trike owners.”

Make it Safer Movement’s (MISMO) Cristina Batalla said the ban would “fail the most vulnerable of our people.”

"The implementation of such a ban will fail. It will fail to reduce road crashes and traffic. It will fail our environment,” she said in a statement.

“By prioritizing motor vehicles and discouraging sustainable modes, we will all lose. MMDA is contributing to the worsening urban heat and air pollution we are suffering through now,” she added.

Given all these arguments, the groups called on the MMDA to reconsider the ban, which would take effect on April 15.

“We call on the MMDA Chairman to reconsider this ban which does more harm than good,” Batalla said.

“We also call on Metro Manila mayors to listen to people on the ground and pay deep attention to how this is impacting mobility and our environment in the long run,” she added.

GMA News Online sought comment from the MMDA on the matter but the agency had yet to respond as of posting time. — DVM, GMA Integrated News