MANILA, Philippines — Motorcycle ride-hailing firm Angkas will implement additional safety measures to further ensure the safety of passengers during its six-month test run which may start by the end of June.
Angkas operations head David Medrana said Thursday that aside from re-training their drivers, Angkas would introduce new vests and helmets.
He said the new reflectorized vest would also contain the ID number of the Angkas driver “for additional visibility.” It will have side straps for passengers to hold on to during the ride.
“Since maraming passengers ang ayaw yumakap, nag-create na kami ng vest na mayroong hawakan sa side para doon na hahawak si passenger natin,” Medrana said in a press conference in Manila.
(Since many passengers do not want to hug [the driver during the ride], we’ve added side straps to the vest.)
Medrana explained that it will be easy to identify the driver if he or she is involved in wrongdoing or in an accident through the reflectorized vest that also contains the driver’s ID number.
Angkas has started re-training its drivers this month and has so far trained 12,000 of its riders. It hopes to finish the other 15,000 before the start of the pilot run.
READ: Angkas re-training 15,000 drivers, eyes pilot run by end of June
Angkas regulatory and public affairs head George Royeca said the focus of the pilot run is the safety as well as the education of passengers.
“In the next couple of weeks, you’ll be seeing a lot of marketing collaterals and materials coming from Angkas para po i-push ‘yung ating (to push our) passenger-safety campaign,” Royeca said in the press conference.
“Ito pong kampanya, naka-emphasize po ‘yung safety ng pasahero para turuan ‘yung pasahero para maging co-rider at maging responsibilidad ng parehong pasahero at biker ang pagiging ligtas sa daan,” he added.
(This campaign is meant to emphasize passenger safety and to train them to be a responsible co-rider.)
No fare hike
Despite the additional safety features, Angkas assured that its fares would remain the same.
“Wala pong magbabago sa pamasahe ng Angkas (There will be no changes in the price structure). It will still be P50 for the first two kilometers and P10 per additional kilometer,” Royeca said.
Last month, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) approved the pilot operations of motorcycle taxis in Metro Manila and Metro Cebu for six months starting June.
The DOTr said it would use the six-month period to assess the level of safety of motorcycle taxis, their drivers’ discipline, and the overall experience of passengers.
In 2017, the department tried to stop Angkas operations, arguing that two-wheeled vehicles are prohibited from being used as public utility vehicles under Republic Act No. 4316 or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code. (Editor: Eden Estopace)