GRAB TRIKE Electronic tricycles will service Binalonan, Pangasinan, through the app Grab Trike. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
SAN FERNANDO CITY — When residents need to commute to any part of the city, they pull out their smartphones, book a ride and wait for a tricycle to fetch them.
They now use “Para,” a tricycle booking app developed by Jovan Ortega, president and chief operating officer of Para Software Inc.
Around 1,700 tricycles ply the streets here but only 140 have joined the network at its initial launch on Nov. 28, said Sean Sarmiento, projects officer of the city government.
In neighboring San Juan town, 40 tricycles are part of the Para network, he said.
Technology
Ortega, 28, an information technology professional, said his group began developing the app in 2015, believing that the provinces needed to benefit from the technology.
No rules governing apps and sharing platforms are enforced in the provinces, but only local governments regulate tricycles, according to Jojo Guadiz, Ilocos regional director of the Land Transportation Office.
According to Ortega, the company operates like any other business entity in this city and San Juan, where they have to get business permits and pay taxes.
Sarmiento said he paid P40 for a trip from the City Hall to Poro Point, using the app, a distance that would cost him P30.
Like the ride-sharing company that uses a booking app, Para requires clients to enter their destination to be informed as to how much the trip costs.
Knowing the cost is convenient for passengers who sometimes deal with exorbitant fare charged by tricycle drivers, said Joe Hipol, an employee of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.
Demand
“With the growing population, the demand for tricycles as the most commonly used mode of transportation had surged as not all people have cars of their own and majority still opt to commute daily. Para offers a solution,” said the Para website.
But unlike other apps, Para signs up tricycles operating legally. “Our app is basically a communications line between tricycle drivers and passengers,” Ortega said.
Tricycle drivers using the app are screened to ensure passenger safety and to protect the company.
In Binalonan town, Pangasinan province, ride-sharing firm “Grab Taxi Holdings” launched its “Grab Trike” on Oct. 26, with 40 units of “tuktok” vehicles taking part in the tricycle-hailing network. Tuktok is the local name for electric tricycles.
The town government said Grab Trike would address exorbitant fares, complaints about arrogant tricycle drivers and those who only ferry passengers to specific destinations.
Tricycle drivers who are not part of the Grab system charge P20 for the first kilometer and P10 for each succeeding kilometer. Tuktuk, on the other hand, charges P30 for the first kilometer and P10 for each succeeding kilometer.