MANDAUE CITY, Philippines ? Within the next two weeks, the Mandaue City government will hold a public hearing on a proposed P1.50 tricycle fare.

Councilor Emiliano Rosal said the hearing would also look into reports that some tricycle drivers in the city plan to switch to small four-wheel vehicles that are more fuel efficient than tricycles.

If reports are true that some tricycle drivers have applied to modify their franchises to use Norkis MTT Spider passenger vehicles to replace their old tricycles, then there should be no need for an increase, said Rosal, chairman of the city council?s committee on transportation and communications.

Reports that the Federation of Mandaue Operators and Tricycle Drivers? Organization (Fomotrido) plan to switch to Spiders have reached the office of Vice Mayor Carlo Fortuna.

Fortuna said he was surprised that Fomotrido was planning the switch while still asking for the fare hike.

Rosal said that if Fomotrido pushes through with its switch to Spiders, the city government would not be able to handle Fomotrido?s franchises or regulate fares.

Four-wheel public utility vehicles fall under the jurisdiction of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board.

In Mandaue City, franchises of tricycles are handled by City Hall.

According to Inquirer.net?s Road Trip, the Norkis MTT Spider is a seven-seater vehicle that, Norkis claims, can travel 18 to 21 kilometers on a liter of gasoline.

It is powered by a 660-cubic-centimeter, three-cylinder Suzuki engine.

?It looks like a cross between a dune buggy and a golf cart. But odd-looking as it may seem, its creator, the Norkis Four Wheel Group, believes it will one day be a common sight in villages, golf courses, resorts and even in your neighborhood,? Road Trip said.

The Spider is compact enough to fit narrow streets and is quieter than tricycles.

Norkis, an automobile assembly and distributor company, is based in Mandaue City.

Norkis recently supplied the Mandaue City government with motorcycles that City Hall assigned to the police. /Reporter Dale G. Israel