Elevating Tricycle Mobility Through Data, Research, and Local Innovation: SafeTravelPH x BISCAST x Naga City

Last November 15, SafeTravelPH had the opportunity to mentor BS Applied Sciences students from the Bicol State College of Applied Sciences and Technology (BISCAST) as part of their thesis research on tricycle operations in Naga City. Using the SafeTravelPH Parasol data collection mobile app and analytics tools, the students are now learning how to gather real-world trip, speed, boarding, alighting, ridership, congestion, and road condition data that can inform actual transport planning decisions, not just academic requirements.

SafeTravelPH signed Memorandum of Agreeements (MOAs) with both BISCAST and Naga City LGU last July 2025 to better bridge academic, governance, and innovation in transport planning and operations.

SafetravelPH mobile app collects granular trips data such speeds, ridership, geotagged boarding and alighting points, driver speeding behaviours, and tracked routes, among others, that can be used to characterize and monitor transport performance.

The mentoring session for this particular group (one of the 4 research groups using the SafeTravelPH platform since July) introduced the fundamentals of evidence-based, operational data-driven planning, where road space, trip behavior, travel time, and user experience are measured before making policy recommendations.

Instead of basing plans solely on traditional operational zoning, traffic rules, or perceived constraints, the students are guided to develop analytics that reflect how trucks, motorcycles, pedestrians, private vehicles, and tricycles really interact along Naga City’s road network.

Tricycles As A Solution

This approach is especially timely. In many Philippine cities, tricycles remain the lifeblood of daily mobility yet are often undervalued in public discourse.

Policies and institutional narratives sometimes view tricycles as “inefficient,” “too slow,” or “not modern enough,” without providing more viable, reliable alternatives for the communities that depend on them. Despite these perceptions, tricycles service is highly available and efficient. It can carry up to five (5) passengers while using only about half the road space of an SUV, and their maximum speeds are inherently safer for mixed urban environments.

In small and medium-sized cities where long headways or waiting times for PUVs, limited mass transit, and dispersed neighborhoods are common, door-to-door accessibility is not a luxury. It is essential mobility.

While future options for higher-capacity, climate-aligned transport such as e-jeepneys, minibus fleets, and BRT systems are welcome and necessary, tricycles must not be evaluated purely through Western or metropolitan lenses, where they are categorized mainly as “first-mile/last-mile feeders.” Due to unwalkable and flood-prone sidewalks, or the absence of them, many Filipinos often choose door-to-door services, whether the more affordable tricycles or the more expensive Grab/Taxi options.

Naga City Tricycle Zones (LPTRP, 2025).

Across Naga and many Philippine cities, tricycles serve as primary transport, not as a transitional or secondary mode. They offer flexible routing, quick availability, adaptable pricing, localized familiarity, and a level of accessibility that remains unmatched by conventional route-based vehicles.

The research project encourages students to build solutions aligned with Philippine realities, not just international frameworks. Rather than asking “How do we phase out tricycles?”, the project reframes the inquiry to:

How can tricycles operate more efficiently, sustainably, and safely within a multimodal transport system?

Real-world lessons from programs like the ADB E-Trike initiative, local battery-swapping pilots, and alternative fare-setting and fleet cooperative models demonstrate that innovation is possible within existing modes, not only through replacement.

SafeTravelPH believes that meaningful modernization must begin with understanding, not elimination. Indigenous and community-adapted transport forms deserve the same level of analytical rigor that larger investments receive.

We look forward to sharing the findings from this research and contributing to a more inclusive, grounded, and data-informed conversation on Philippine mobility, where progress is not defined by imitation, but by adaptation, evidence, and local wisdom.