Binalonan offers hassle-free Grab trike ride
COUNTRY’S FIRST
BINALONAN—This town now holds the distinction of being the first town in the country to offer Grab tricycle service to its residents for a hassle-free ride to get them to their destination with just a click of an app on their Android phone.
A motorcade was held in Poblacion, and along Mac Arthur Highway to announce its introduction to the community.
Mayor Guico drives a Grab-tricycle during the launch. (Contributed)
Mayor Ramon Guico III said Grab tricycle is similar to the operation of Grab taxi in Metro Manila with fare matrix prepared by the local government and the tricycle franchise committee of the town.
There are two kinds of Grab tricycle services offered: the regular and premium, Guico said.
Regular refers to the usual tricycle ride that ferries passengers while the premium is similar to Thailand’s tuk-tuk ride which is allowed to ply the highway, and fares are almost similar to the amount normally paid by passengers to regular tricycle rides.
“For the safety and convenience of passengers, they don’t have to haggle (kontrata) for fares each time, ” Guico said. “It’s a point-to-point ride,” he explained.
Like Grab car services in Metro Manila, fare is fixed.
Initially, Guico said about 100 Grab tricycle drivers, out of the 1,500 in the town, will initially be signed up and successful applicants will not be asked to terminate his membership in the Tricycle Operators and Drivers’ Association (TODA) in the town.
Grab riders can be picked up anywhere and brought directly to their destination without having to get a ride from a terminal.
Soon as agreements are reached with TODAs in other towns, he said Grab tricycles can ply routes to other neighboring towns.
He said he initiated the project because tricycle operations in the county have become problematic, particularly overcharging of passengers and still allow drivers to skip long queues of tricycles in one area awaiting passengers.
The first batch of Binalonan Grab trike drivers took a seminar on Oct. 16 and 17 to educate them on the system. (With PhilStar Wire Service)
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