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Tricycle Pollution Reduction, Philippines

by Rita Festin

Tricycles are "kings of the road" in Puerto Princesa City.

Tricycles stationed at the Puerto Princesa City airport are color-coded both blue and white

Puerto Princesa City prides itself as the cleanest and greenest in the country, and is a popular tourist destination. But it may well be one of the noisiest cities too because of its tricycles.

Just like any other bustling city in the country, the city has air and noise pollution problems. The pollution is mainly caused by having too many of these tricycles. As of 2005, there were about 4,000 tricycles in Puerto Princesa's poblacion. The tricycles are generally not roadworthy in design because its large sidecars are relatively unstable, most engines are old model-types and poorly-maintained. They therefore take more effort to operate, and caused significant noise and air pollution. Noise coming from these vehicles is measured at a range of 90-97 decibels (dB). Studies suggest prolonged exposure to noise levels at or above 80 dB can cause deafness. These vehicles also emit fine particulate matter, which poses danger to public health.

In a 2003 survey conducted by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), it found that 70 percent of the drivers do not properly maintain their tricycles, which could help cut down its noise and improve pollution emissions. The drivers try to do away with the maintenance since this is an added cost to them considering that they only earn a daily net income of between P100 and P150, or less than $3. Despite the low earning capacity, tricycle-driving is a popular means of living in Puerto Princesa because it does not require much skill. Moreover, the high unemployment rate coupled with the absence of alternative livelihood opportunities persuades majority of households to resort to tricycle driving as a source of livelihood.

Visit to laboratories conducted by Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) in connection with ambient air quality management training for City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO), Provincial ENRO and Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD).

Training conducted by Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) Region 4 on tailpipe emission testing and monitoring as well as on roadside apprehension among CENRO personnel (about 9 CENRO personnel were trained)

The Air and Noise Pollution Reduction Strategies Project is a project funded by PEP to reduce the air and noise pollution from tricycles in Puerto Princesa. The project will also establish a Tricycle Multi-Purpose Fund to provide seed money for other means of livelihood and soft loans for operators and drivers to upgrade their engines from two-stroke to four-stroke engines considering that a four-stroke engine has less noise and air pollution than a two-stroke engine. Through the project, the drivers will be trained on proper maintenance of the tricycles, the city government's capacity to enforce Clean Air Act will be strengthened especially for roadside emission monitoring and in catching smoke belchers, and registration of engines beyond 15 years of age will also be restricted. The lessons learned from the project will be the basis in formulating and replicating strategies in other Philippine cities with similar noise and/or air pollution problems.

Training conducted by Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) on regular tricycle clean-up (a total of 195 tricycle drivers were trained)