MODE OF TRANSPORT. Some of the tricycles plying one of the routes in Bacolod City. Starting Feb. 20, 2023, the city's Task Force Kontra Colorum will apprehend tricycles without permits or franchiseS as well as those that do not follow their designated routes. (PNA Bacolod file photo)
BACOLOD CITY – The city government here is seeking to regulate the operations of unlicensed tricycles plying passenger routes in most of its 61 villages.
Data as of Thursday showed there are more than 5,800 "colorum" (illegal) units from at least 82 tricycle drivers associations in the city.
Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said starting Feb. 20, the Task Force Kontra Colorum will apprehend tricycles without permits or franchises as well as those that do not follow their designated routes.
"There is a need for an intensive campaign against 'colorum' tricycles to address the proliferation of illegal units and the increasing number of traffic accidents involving tricycles in the City of Bacolod," Benitez stated in Executive Order (EO) 003, series of 2023 which created the Task Force Kontra Colorum.
City Ordinance 650 enumerates the number of franchises for each barangay and tricycle association, but despite the provision, "colorum" tricycles still proliferate in the streets here, he noted.
Before starting the operations, members of the task force headed by Councilor Al Victor Espino, chairperson of the committee on transportation and traffic, will undergo a workshop and orientation on Feb. 18.
The participants will include representatives from the Bacolod Traffic Authority Office, Bacolod City Police Office-Traffic Management Unit, City Engineer's Office, Bacolod Permits and Licences Office, and various tricycle associations. (PNA)
