Tricycle drivers grapple with dearth of riders

A CITY ordinance allows only 2,000 tricycles to ply Mandaue City’s streets, but there are at least 10,000 units operating in the city.

The violation of City Ordinance 32-91 has forced legitimate tricycle franchise holders out of business, lawyer Francis Rod Bagaslao, Traffic Enforcement Agency in Mandaue (Team) board member, yesterday told reporters.

“There are many tricycle units operating in the city and passengers are now rare,” Bagaslao said.

More than 2,000 tricycle operators applied for franchise renewal early this year, he said.

Personnel from the city administrator’s office try to make sure that operators have requirements like a certification from the City Treasurer’s Office and won’t resort to forging franchises.

“This is to give justice to legitimate franchise holders,” he said.

Bagaslao said many tricycles were apprehended and found with fake papers were impounded at Team and police monitored checkpoints in the city. /Reporter Jucell Marie P. Cuyos