Cabanatuan bans tricycles

CABANATUAN City—Some 5,000 tricycles from areas outside of this city would be stopped from plying Cabanatuan’s streets as the city government implements this week an ordinance regulating their operations.

Mayor Julius Cesar Vergara said Ordinance No. 006-2011 aims to reduce the 17,000 tricycles in the city and limit the operations to city residents by reviewing their franchises. “We are sorry for the outsiders but we want to make things in order and make the trade more viable for our people,” Vergara said.

City records showed that only 9,600 tricycles are covered by franchises issued by the local government. Tricycles operating without franchises compete for passengers with legitimate operators, dropping the average daily earning of a tricycle driver here to P531.25 daily.—Armand Galang, Inquirer Central Luzon