Angkas gets lion’s share of allotted riders

MANILA, Philippines — For the failure of a motorcycle taxi company to fill the expanded rider cap, Angkas will get the lion’s share in operations with over 23,000 riders already plying Metro Manila, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) announced yesterday.

The DOTr’s inter-agency technical working group (TWG) studying the legality and viability of motorcycle taxis said Angkas was allowed to deploy 23,164 riders in Metro Manila for the pilot testing, which would run until March 23.

 The move came after ride-hailing app Move It came up short again with the 15,000 rider cap imposed on the three companies, with only 6,836 riders registered when the Feb. 12 deadline came. The company had already given Angkas 5,000 of its slots for registered riders earlier.

 JoyRide, meanwhile, would remain in operation with 15,000 registered riders.

 The rider cap for each service provider was earlier increased from the initial 13,000 (10,000 in Metro Manila; 3,000 in Cebu) to 21,000 (15,000 in Metro Manila; 3,000 in Cebu and 3,000 for Cagayan de Oro).

“Given the number of registered riders from the three (companies) based on their submitted lists, there are still 3,164 rider slots that can still be filled for Metro Manila operations as of Feb. 13, 2020,” the TWG said in a statement yesterday.

The TWG said Move It also gave away all of its slots for Cebu to the two service providers, giving each a 4,500-rider cap. 

Angkas now has 4,500 registered riders in Cebu, while JoyRide has 4,488. In Cagayan de Oro, Angkas has 925 riders and JoyRide has 198. Move It had none for both testing sites.

The pilot run was launched last year as lawmakers have set their sights on regulating motorcycle taxis as safe alternative public utility vehicles.