NONMOTORIZED VEHICLES IN METROPOLITAN MANILA: RETURN OF THE PEDICABS

Metropolitan Manila, the capital city of the Philippines, is located on Luzon Island and consists of four cities and 13 municipalities. In the 1960s and 1970s incomes were on the increase and the popular pedicabs (the local term for bicycles with sidecars that serve as nonmotorized taxis) of the 1950s were increasingly motorized (this motorized version of the pedicab is called a tricycle). However, the almost extinct pedicabs reappeared during the early 1980s at the time of the Ferdinand Marcos economic downturn and quickly regained popularity. Though not favored by government officials, pedicabs are popular with some residents and account for about 20% of all vehicle traffic in areas of nonmotorized vehicle (NMV) use. The pedicabs are joined by other NMVs such as handcarts, bicycles, and calesas (two-wheeled horse-drawn carriages). All of these NMVs have been on the increase recently, in part because of the structurally weak Philippine economy. As long as the unemployment situation does not improve and urban migration in not controlled, NMVs will provide a source of employment and means of livelihood. The number of poor people in metro Manila has been increasing in the past few years with little sign of abatement, and this has coincided with an increase in the number of pedicabs. Consequently, the national and local governments need to address this issue through balanced transport planning and the provision of a low-cost NMV transportation infrastructure.

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1995/1487/1487-014.pdf
• Record URL:
  https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=NONMOTORIZED+VEHICLES+IN+METROPOLITAN+MANILA%3A+RETURN+OF+THE+PEDICABS&author=D.+Bell&author=C.+Kuranami&publication_year=1995
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309061504
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1487, Nonmotorized Transportation Research, Issues, and Use. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved
• Authors:
  • Bell, Derek Dylan
  • Kuranami, Chiaki
• Publication Date: 1995

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 90-98
• Monograph Title: Nonmotorized transportation research, issues, and use
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 1487
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bicycles; Economic conditions; Hand trucks; Horse drawn vehicles; Human powered vehicles; Infrastructure; Nonmotorized transportation; Transportation planning; Urban transportation
• Uncontrolled Terms: Pedicabs
• Geographic Terms: Manila (Philippines)
• Old TRIS Terms: Handcarts
• Subject Areas: Economics; Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00713612
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309061504
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Nov 28 1995 12:00AM