Do you make much use of a trisikad where you live ?

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manofthecoldland
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While watching a YTvid someone did two and a half years ago (569 views) re "trisikad driver": and then reviewing the search results from a 2015 topical posting (interesting comments)... I did have a question for my wife that she remarkably did not have an answer for.

This is not about people's walking practices. We all know how and why people choose to walk, or not, in their personal situations or circumstances here in the sunny tropics..... e.g., to avoid getting sweaty, lack of safe walking along roads, packages, sun exposure, etc.

We pass by a small trisikad station a few kms. from our home that links the beach front road to the city square with a 4 km. blvd. 

There, across from the Bangko Central of the PI, is a half dozen peditrikes that service a dirt entry road that goes in very far according to Google Map.  It seems to be the only one in our city that we've noticed and my wife is aware of existing here.

Our provincial capital does have a very limited number of jeepney routes and now a few new city service buses, but most people have their own motorbikes or cars, etc. They replaced the multi-cab franchises with the buses or let people take motortrikes. 

Most small towns still rely on trisikads down the highways, and in certain areas, while traveling about years ago, we often took one when it was the normal option for the area, but its been a long while since I rode in one.

So i asked the wife if those few trisikads here need an operator's license permit..... and she didn't know. She thinks not.  We used to own a multi-cab franchise more than a decade ago here, and now I maintain our 'family service trike' driver's operator's license so he can make extra money when not tending to our transport needs, but I have no idea how trisikads are licensed or regulated, or even if they are.

Anyone know or have experience in this area of common transportation use in their area?

 

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Dave Hounddriver
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7 hours ago, manofthecoldland said:

So i asked the wife if those few trisikads here need an operator's license permit..... and she didn't know. She thinks not.

Where I lived they needed a license to operate.  It would hang off the back of their bike.  Additionally, it gets quite confusing how different areas of different provinces will use the names tricycle and tricikad in different ways so that one area that would get you a motorized trike and another it would get you a pedal bike.  I found the pedal trisikads useful when I wanted to go a short distance for cheap price.  I often felt a bit guilty that me and one other passenger would be a bit heavy for him but they never seemed to mind.

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GeoffH
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I don't use triskads because I'm a fat bugger and I always felt like the poor driver would be carrying 2 filipinos when they carried me.

SWMBO, her mama and papa nor her brother and sister don't use them either although the younger cousins do.

Having said that they're not common where we live, mostly it's motorized tricycles (which are meant to be licensed) and the family mostly use those.

I do use the motorized tricycles when there aren't other options but they're not my first choice.

 

Edited by GeoffH
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Snowy79
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I've used them a couple of times in the Malate area of Manila and for me they were as fast if not faster than taxis as they weaved in and out of the traffic and ignored most rules of the road.  The owners sleep in them beside the road most nights and I'd tip them just below the going taxi rate.  Those ones are just big enough for a Westerner to have to bend double to get in.

I've also used one on Boracay main beach though never again.  My partner has two drinks and is almost unconscious so after a night out we had to get her one. I'm not the biggest guy at only about 89kg but after about 500m on the soft sand the guy peddling was burnt out and I had to get off and push the rest of the way. Luckily it was only about another 1km to go, not the best 200 peso I've spent.

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Dave Hounddriver
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1 hour ago, Snowy79 said:

The owners sleep in them beside the road most nights

I heard a lot of them are rented but that's besides the point.  Where I lived in Biliran they were the most popular form of transport in Naval.  But they were not allowed to operate after dark.  AND they all lived out of town.  So as soon as the sun went down there was a mass exodus of trisikads pedaling down the highway to get home.  A real bugger to see if driving home between 6 and 7 pm.

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intrepid
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In San Carlos City they are referred to as pedicabs.  Many more there than any other city I visited.  When my daughter was younger and if she got bored we would have the local guy take her a ride with her Tita around the subdivision.  It made her happy and us as well for a while.

IMG_1046.jpg

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manofthecoldland
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I always heard them called 'pedicabs', also.  Wife and I used one on a very hot day in Mabini, MNL to round trip it to my visa renewal agency from my hotel, since it was several blocks.  Usually we prefer walking. 

Took one, one time from near the sea cat dock in Bacolod, since the jeepney and taxi touts were hounding us and I just wanted to escape. So we walk out of the transport area.... and there was this young boy with one. He took us up to 12th ave pension house..... all up grade.  Told my wife he was a HS student and he did it to make money for the family after school, so we tipped him very richly and made his day. The poor kid really had to work hard and put out the muscle power. I was impressed.

Took one, another time from the overnight hotel we stayed at in Roxas, Mindoro to the distant ferry dock outside the city while enroute to Caticlan, Aklan, Panay Island.  They were the dominant form of transport there in the city center. While moving along, I told my wife that I wanted to try driving, so I swapped places with the trike driver for a few hundred yards to satisfy my curiosity about what it was like to pedal a loaded peditrike.  Not exactly like riding one of my bikes over the many years, in any way, whatsoever. 

On the same track....... pardon the phrase........ was a ride we took while visiting Silay.  We took a sugar cane rail line pedi-tram to the settlement at the end. Wish we would have taken our sun umbrellas. Had to get off mid way once or twice while they lifted the cart off the track to let opposing traffic of same through. Since we were obvious tourists and not regular local users, the guy wanted to charge us 10x the normal fare that the other 8 passengers were paying. I 'debated' with the guy awhile, and my wife finally got us  a much lower cost fare, since I was joking him about giving all the magandang babae riders a cheaper price and I shouldn't have to pay so much for being a lalaki, even though I weighed more.

Its always an adventure in the Philippines when you travel.

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hk blues
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We used to hire one in our subdivision to take us to/from our place to the main gate where we would take a taxi or a jeepney.  I wouldn't use them for longer rides as I feel sorry for the drivers!  

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graham59
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We have them in Mangaldan (Pangasinan, N.Luzon)  but not in other towns. (My pic). 

They do a good job of holding up the traffic, but at least use 'proper'-sized bikes. :thumbsup:

.

 

IMG_20141119_115227.jpg

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