The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) said the number of motorcycle taxis (MT) in Metro Manila has reached a saturation point and that it has diverted new slots to Regions 3 and 4.
In a statement on Sunday, the LTFRB said only four transport network companies (TNC) — Taxsee Philippines, ParaXpress, GrabBike, and Dingdong— are allowed to operate exclusively in Region 3 (Central Luzon) and Region 4 (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon). Each is assigned a rider cap of 2,000.
“We believe…that 68,036 riders may not have been sufficient yet to cover the entire Philippines, though we believe and we recognize and we agree … that insofar as the NCR (National Capital Region) is concerned, we have already reached a saturation level that’s why we have already imposed a suspension on the accreditation of additional TNCs for Metro Manila,” Teofilo Guadiz, LTFRB told a recent public hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Services.
MT operators Angkas, JoyRide and Move It share a pool of 45,000 slots in Metro Manila.
According to Guadiz, aside from the current MT players, the four are the only addition to the TNCs accredited by regulator.
When asked if it would make sense to devolve the responsibility of accrediting MTs to local governments, the LTFRB said this may not be feasible as two-wheeled taxis can travel across several local government units in the course of their operation.
