Manila will say goodbye to old school tricycles and pedicabs on Oct 15

Goodbye, obnoxious gasoline tricycles! Hello, easy-breezy e-trikes!

Manila City Mayor Joseph Estrada confirmed that the local government of Manila remove all gasoline-powered tricycles, kuliglig (motorcycle-powered rickshaw) and pedicabs (bicycle with a sidecar) from the streets of Manila to make way for electric tricycles or e-trikes.

“By (Oct 15), strictly there will be no more kuligligs, gasoline-run tricycles and pedicabs. We want Manila to become the e-trike capital of the Philippines and to make Manila a green city,” Estrada told The Philippine Star.

The seven-seater e-trikes can travel up to 80 kilometers in a single four-hour charge.

According to Estrada, they will distribute 10,000 units of e-trikes to qualified tricycle drivers from Manila.

However, it is not yet clear how the government will reconcile the 25,000 existing tricycles, kuligligs, and pedicabs and the number of available e-trikes for distribution.

Binondo, the oldest Chinatown in the world, is the “pilot area” of the e-trike program.

“Pickup stations and two charging stations will be made available for them. There will be many routes. But we will have Binondo as our pilot area. We will also put e-trike stations in the university belt, Port Area, among others,” Estrada explained.

Estrada explained that aside from being better for the environment, e-trikes will help increase the income of tricycle drivers.

“Tricycle drivers are paying a daily boundary of P150 and are spending P200 for their gasoline. That is P350 per day. On an e-trike, they will not spend a single centavo for gasoline. The battery charging will be shouldered by the city government,” Estrada said in the same report.

Drivers under the e-trike program are required to pay a daily fee between PHP 150 to PHP 200 for the next four years. Aside from getting the e-trike and free battery charging at designated charging spots, the drivers will also get an orange shirt as their uniform.

Is it weird to be this excited about e-trikes? We hope more cities will follow Manila’s lead and use electric trikes, too!