EFFECTIVE TODAY, September 2, tricycle drivers will be temporarily allowed to travel along the right side of Katipunan Avenue to serve people from the Ateneo, Miriam College, and Pansol communities.
Over 200 Loyola Pansol (LP) and Loyola Heights (LH) tricycle drivers met with Quezon City (QC) Vice Mayor Herbert Bautista 2:00 pm on Monday to clarify issues on the tricycle ban. Several councilors were also present in the meeting.
“Gross disrespect”
Bautista said that although an ordinance (SP No. 15, Series of 1992) states that tricycles are not allowed to pass along national roads, tricycles are allowed to cross Katipunan Avenue “if there is no other way to reach a destination.”
The Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), headed by Bayani Fernando, did not coordinate with the council regarding the issue, added Bautista.
He said that the MMDA showed “gross disrespect” by not recognizing the actions of the council, especially when it issued a one-month moratorium allowing for dialogue regarding the issue.
The MMDA implemented the tricycle ban August 15 on short notice, and ignored the one-month moratorium.
During the meeting, councilor Edcel Lagman Jr. also called for an exemption on the ban for the LP and LH drivers because of “the loss of livelihood of the tricycle drivers and the inconvenience to the students of [Ateneo] and [Miriam].”
The QC Police, under the assistance of the city’s Department of Public Order and Safety, will be assisting the tricycle drivers tomorrow as they pass along Katipunan Avenue, until the council comes up with a final solution with its coordination problems with the MMDA.
Conflict?
LP Tricycle Operators and Drivers Association President Alex Baay said the temporary lifting of the tricycle ban was a relief. “Dalawang linggo kaming hirap [dahil sa trike ban], dahil binigla kasi kami [ng MMDA] (We were having difficulties for two weeks because the MMDA did not warn us beforehand),” Baay said.
Sanggunian Central Board Representative Aldo Tong (IV BSM AMF) said there is a possibility of a conflict between the QC Council and MMDA because of the lifting of the ban. He said, however, that he believes the QC council will prevail over the MMDA.
“I believe that if this is what the QC Council feels and they do have proof in paper, then we’ll stick with it since it’s very much a convenience to the communities previously affected, including Ateneo,” Tong said.
finally, they we’re right it was really disrespectful, it’s like someone uses your car on short notice saying “woops I need your car today”.
oh thank god! dapat lang ano! super sakit ng ulo ang pagpunta at paguwi pag umuulan… ano mag tataxi ako? o baka naman gusto nilang maglakad ako sa mga mababahong at bahang kalsada sa may papuntang abada.
argh. i hope they don’t insist on the ban… 🙁
good job!
gago lang talaga si Bayani… masyado pakialamero
The lifting of the tricycle ban comes at a great convenience for us Ateneans and for the Miriam students. I myself was affected by the ban. But what of the traffic along Katipunan? Perhaps that was one of the reasons why Fernando implemented the ordinance against trikes on national roads.
Wala bang nakapansin na kahit papaano lumuwag ang trapiko sa Katipunan makaraang iimplementa ang polisiyang ito?
Yan ang hirap sa ating mga Pilipino eh, panay sarili natin ang iniisip natin, lalo na kung gaano kahirap para sa atin ang mga bagay-bagay. Hindi natin nakikita na ang sakripisyong ito ang magdadala ng kaayusan at magandang kondisyon sa ating lipunan. Tayo na nga ang dinidisiplina’t inaayos, tayo pa ang galit.
Yes, traffic was better after taking away our U-turn slots and trikes. I think that the MMDA has good intentions whenever they implement an ordinance, but the problem with them is that their vision is tunneled and all they see is the good that they would cause and ignore the negative effects. I noticed that the trike drivers along Katipunan and in school now charge higher fares. They also devise ways to cheat the ban and still get into the campus. Where’s the discipline in that?
Access to gate 3 should be allowed as well. For one, people from the NORTH like Commonwealth, Novaliches, Bulacan areas will have to traverse all the way to the U-turn underpass. Even those from the West like Manila will have to take that from Kamias. Marikina folks, where our beloved Bayani comes from, also suffer with the service road volume when they come up from the access road from the EAST. Everything is concentrated underneath the Uturn.
If there is a Uturn to access Gate 3 (or hopefully a LEFT turn, which is probably impossible until 2010), the volume underneath is decreased.
Let’s not call the tricycle drivers “cheaters”. They get into the campus because they are allowed to do so.
Oh, wow, so the tricycle drivers raising their gas prices is on the same level as cheating an MMDA ordinance? I just thought it was because of the rising gas prices. Or because buying an ADMU sticker and adhering to the “uniform” that the LS set for ADMU trike drivers (red shirt and rubber shoes) was extra expense than just serving along E. Abada.
Of course, think about the easier trip via car– less traffic. Never mind the commuters. The people who walk or take jeeps right up to the .5 gates. Never mind that the trikes are lifesavers when you just can’t walk anymore or when it’s raining too hard to walk out or if you’ve just left the train and your class is in five minutes.
When you’re in your car, it’s easy to blame or belittle the people actually earning money by maneuvering their trikes and providing a valuable service.
The MMDA has good intentions, but they shouldn’t have implemented without respecting the moratorium or on such short notice without widely disseminating the information.
I oppose the re-opening of the Gate 3 intersection. Many years ago when it was opened, it was the major cause of traffic.
I still prefer that the tricycle ban be implemented. I’m not sure if my fellow drivers have even realized it but just how many traffic rules and regulations do tricycle drivers violate whenever they take on major roads and service roads?
#1. Swerving and reckless driving. Tricycle drivers have the bad habit of cutting right in front of vehicles, even if they are at the third lane, just to make it to the U-turn slot. I believe several years ago there was an accident involving a tricycle making an illegal U-turn in front of Gate 2 and speeding car coming from the Katipunan Overpass.
#2. Counterflowing. I’ve found myself in several situations wherein I find myself trapped in traffic (especially the service road in front of Miriam, at the Shoppersville-Rustan’s side) just because several tricycle drivers are counterflowing against the traffic to beat the traffic.
#3. Obstruction. Tricycles are slow to a fault that whenever a vehicle is stuck behind it, it finds itself running at a speed of 5 -20 KM/Hrs which is way below the recommended traveling speed of 40 -60 KM/HRs. Even inside Ateneo, they are running at a speed way below the speed limit and can build up a heavy traffic behind it. Hence, they can be treated as obstructions.
And thing about tricycle drivers getting involved in traffic accidents, you have to remember that their insurance only covers the passenger(s) riding on the motorcycle and does not cover the passenger(s) riding in the cab attached to the motorcycle.
As for the issues of drivers taking the U-turn slot under the Katipunan overpass to enter Gate 1 or 2 of Ateneo, or to get to Miriam or UP, there is a second U-turn slot near White Plains if you want to avoid the heavy traffic going under the overpass. Use that overpass and enter Ateneo via Gate 2 or 3.
I also oppose the re-opening of Gate 3 intersection. I’ve studied for more than 13 years at schools located along Katipunan Road and I still remember how terrible traffic was in those days when Katipunan was still peppered with intersections at every major school gate. If you think being stuck in traffic in front of Ateneo for 30 mins to 1 hour is insane, try being stuck in traffic for 2 to 2.5 hours just to make it into Miriam College.
If you lived along Katipunan, or anywhere outside the Ateneo for that matter, and are not privileged enough to own a car, you’ll know how much help the tricycles are to a lot of people.
Instead of banning it completely, why not just take steps to address–and hopefully remedy–those aspects of tricycle-driving and -riding that needs improving?
GO NEWSSSSS! 🙂