AFTER tricycle drivers in Mandaue City were allowed to board two passengers at a time, the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators Nationwide (Piston) Cebu says they have almost doubled their earnings.
On May 19, the Mandaue City Council passed the ordinance authored by Mandaue City Councilor Jimmy Lumapas, chairman of the committee on transportation, allowing tricycles to board at most two passengers provided that there will be plastic barriers between the driver and passengers.
The resolution of the city’s Local Franchising Board also states that the fare be decreased from P25 to P20 per passenger.
Piston Cebu chairman Greg Perez told SunStar Cebu that increasing the passenger capacity of the tricycle can help their members generate more income.
Before, Perez said, the tricycle drivers earned more than P100 per day. Now, with two passengers allowed, they can earn from P150 to P200 net of expenses like rent and gasoline.
The current rental fee of tricycles ranges from P80 to P120 per day, said Perez.
He said this depends on the demand of passengers on a certain day.
But compared to their earnings before the pandemic that could go from P500 to P1,000 per day, Perez said there is still a big difference.
There are more than 100 tricycle drivers plying the streets of Mandaue City.
Perez said of all the local government units (LGUs) in Cebu, Mandaue City is the only one that increased the passenger capacity only recently as other LGUs had implemented this months ago and even allow more than two passengers per trip.
With this, he hopes that soon the government will increase the passenger capacity so that the income of their members will eventually get back to normal.
He assured that Piston members will abide by all the government-imposed guidelines and protocol. He said he keeps reminding all his members to wear masks and sanitize their vehicles.
Perez said all members of Piston are willing to get vaccinated against Covid-19.
He said they have their master list ready and are only waiting for the government’s instructions on when and where they could get vaccinated. (KFD)