E-trikes coming soon to Manila’s streets via city hall tie-up with ADB

WILL e-trikes take over the streets of Manila which are teeming with pedicabs and “kuliglig?” PHOTO courtesy of Manila City Hall Media Bureau

MANILA’S tricycles will soon have an electronic version as the city government announced over the weekend that it is set to roll out “e-trikes,” the more eco-friendly version of the fuel-powered vehicle.

In a statement, city administrator Jojo Alcovendaz said the e-trikes would initially be fielded in the Ermita and Malate areas where there is a larger concentration of tourists.

He clarified, however, that the city government would not be phasing out tricycles and pedicabs plying the city’s streets.

According to him, the e-trikes will be offered to groups of tricycle operators and drivers to allow them to save on fuel costs as the electronic units need to be charged for just four to five hours to run the whole day.

Councilor Letlet Zarcal, chair of the city council’s transportation committee, said on Saturday that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will be providing loans for the acquisition of the vehicles. Each e-trike costs around P480,000.

In a statement Monday, ADB country director Richard Bolt, said ADB provided a loan to the Department of Energy (DOE),  which then entered into agreements with local governments interested in acquiring these e-trikes.

Alcovendaz said Manila City Hall is still working out an amortization scheme for  Tricycle Drivers and Operators Association (Toda) groups who would want to purchase the vehicles. Should a loan be arranged between the local government and interested e-trike operators, Bolt said that “a government financial institution, such as Land Bank of the Philippines, will establish a loan facility with the LGUs and collect the funds from the drivers, which [would] then paid to the government’s Bureau of Treasury.”

“We will conduct extensive consultations and discussions with all the stakeholders here, especially, the Tricycle Operators and Drivers Association and other concerned groups. We will have a memorandum of agreement with them,” said Alcovendaz.

He said the e-trikes, which run on gel-type batteries and reach a maximum speed of 45 kilometers per hour, would not only be more environment-friendly but could also become a tourist attraction.