Pride in tricycles

By Marifi Jara

QUELIMANE, Mozambique–Tricycles may not be as unique to the Philippines as jeepneys are but they are as much a distinctive part of the colorful and chaotic road culture of the country.

Tricycles have also become an indispensable part of the economy with thousands of families around the country owning one, oftentimes an investment from overseas Filipino earnings, and using the income from its operations as a public utility vehicle to augment the household’s daily budget.

I say augment because I can’t imagine a family relying solely on tricycle earnings to provide for all the basic needs, not with so many tricycles around and only so many passengers. Tricycles easily fall under the same predicament as the shawarma and zagu business fads where many of the operators ended up broke simply because supply has shot up way, way higher than demand.

But unlike the shawarma and zagu businesses, where only the fittest have survived, too many tricycles continue to ply our streets, or maybe I should say continue to dawdle around.

In many towns and cities, in Pangasinan for example (and true for many other provinces), you will usually find a long line or a throng of them standing by (and it is not unusual to find a driver — or more than one of them — contentedly rubbing his exposed belly as he lounges comfortably on the motorbike). In areas where there are organized lines, civility somehow reigns (never mind the belly-rubbing drivers) because the drivers follow a system of next-in-line-gets-passenger/s. But in the free-for-all environments, which I think are more widespread, ugh, prepare for bruteness.

One free-for-all scenario: People getting off a public utility bus are swarmed by tricycle drivers who, because they are competing for limited business opportunities, are practically blocking off the bus’ exit door and are right in the face of the passengers who are probably knackered from a long trip or a hard day at work and not in the best of moods.

But while this scene is potentially very irritating to passengers, the worse part really is that it deprives our tricycle drivers of carrying dignity in their trade.

With too much competition, the drivers become too desperate for a customer and an income that it pushes them to act without restraint and sadly, almost without pride and self-respect.

We don’t need any more tricycles, we got more than enough of them around. What we do need is better management of this public transport.

Organized lines should be the rule everywhere. Allow the passengers, by their own free will and need, to go to the designated stations and without being hassled get a tricycle ride. No need for pestering and harassment in the streets.

Franchises should come with some sort of a very visible tag on the tricycle (other than the plate — and can we please grow up and do away with the face of the mayor on the plate?) to show that it is legitimately operating and the riding public can avoid the colorums. At the same time, franchises mean a certain responsibility to the public so there should be a venue for passengers and other motorists to report abusive and/or reckless drivers. Those with a record should be automatically stripped off their franchise and the next applicant in line be given the opportunity.

Tricycle fare rates are supposedly regulated by the local government, these rates should be posted in the passenger cab to protect the public.

I don’t know if we can make it a criminal offense to expose and rub one’s belly in public, but surely the leaders of our TODAs (Tricycle Operators and Drivers Association) can have a campaign for a little bit of decorum. It would be a meaningful part of taking pride in our tricycles and bearing self-respect.

Tricycles, like it or not, are a part of who we are as a nation, so let’s find ways to be proud of them.

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