The Philippine Tricycle
DIVINA, Joseph H.
21 Nov 2014, Sikatuna Village Need a ride that could get you to an exact address? Is a taxi cab too expensive for a place too near? Buses and jeepneys can only go so fat? What other options do you have? You guessed right – a tricycle ride!
The tricycle is a public utility vehicle that reigns over the Philippines’s inner roads and alleyways. This vehicle is surprisingly versatile, despite its size. It can travel from a street corner to the next or form a province to another (provided the province can be travelled by land). It journeys through narrow bumpy eskinitas, but also does so in wide, flat highways. It can safely accommodate four passengers (including the driver), but often times, it can be seen carrying at least six people, with three on the motorcycle and the other three in the sidecar. While Philippine tricycles are mostly used as a means to commute, some are also used to transport market goods, furniture, appliances and all other merchandise that can fit into the tiny little vehicle.
Yes, the tricycle has played a significant part in Philippine transportations. All throughout the country, tricycles are being utilized mainly because of their ability to get to places where other forms of public transportation do not usually go. Here in Sikatuna Village, tricycles are important modes of transportation. They serve as the links of the village’s inner roads to the city’s main roads. In my case, I use (meaning to say ride) tricycles to get to school, go to church, or to go buy groceries. In short, the use of tricycles is part of my daily commute.
Tricycles are, indeed, very useful. However, the quality of these vehicles are, sometimes, questionable. Most tricycles I have ridden here do not have proper footholds for the person seating at the backseat. Being long-legged, riding at the backseat of a tricycle can be a pain. It gives my legs an uncomfortable, numbing feeling. It is also unsafe because there is a risk of falling off the tricycle without proper foothold. I think that a long sturdy foothold should be installed. In Bacoor, I ride tricycles with such a foothold and I felt safe, not to mention comfortable. A proper foothold would guarantee a safer and more comfortable ride on a tricycle.