A grant project helped Puerto Princesa City deal with the air and noise pollution caused by its popular tricycles
Puerto Princesa City - This city-a popular tourist destination in the Philippines-prides itself as being the cleanest and greenest in the country. But it used to be one of the noisiest.
Much like other bustling cities around Asia, Puerto Princesa, the capital of Palawan, had its share of air and noise pollution problems, caused mainly by the poorly maintained two- and three-wheeler passenger tricycles plying its streets. In this city, they are the "king of the road," unlike in other Philippine cities where the jeepney is king.
About a third of the total vehicle population in the country consists of tricycles, which are used in both urban and rural areas. Tricycles are a popular mode of public transportation among commuters due to their high accessibility, availability, affordability, and convenience. Being much less expensive than other vehicles, they play an important role in the country's overall transportation system.
In Puerto Princesa, tricycles are fast becoming tourist icons on their own, as the tuk-tuks are in Thailand. As of 2005, there were about 4,000 tricycles in the main town. Each tricycle measures 1.6 meters (m) in height, 1.8m in width, and almost 2m in length. This unique, larger-than-usual design is intended to transport not just people, but cargo, too. They are fitted with wide windshields and roomy sidecars, with shelves at both the front and back sections to load agricultural produce. The city is an agricultural and tourism area, hence the need to have a rear cargo compartment, whose design was inspired by the vintage cars of the 1950s.
Noisy, Heavy Polluters
These large sidecars, however, are relatively unstable and, coupled with old and poorly maintained engines, make for tricycles that are generally not roadworthy. They, therefore, take more effort to operate, and make more noise than their counterparts, reaching 90-97 decibels. Studies suggest that prolonged exposure to noise levels at or above 80 decibels can cause deafness.
They are also heavy polluters. About 94% of these motorcycles and tricycles run on poorly maintained two-stroke engines that emit fine particulate matter, which poses a danger to public health. Due to lack of knowledge and the perception that it increases fuel efficiency, lubricants are used excessively. Gasoline is also adulterated with kerosene because of high fuel prices. Since two-stroke engines have low fuel efficiency, the incompletely burned gasoline and lubricant are emitted into the air as small oil droplets, which increase visible smoke and particulate emissions.
"Most people do not realize that there are so many pollutants in the black smoke from tricycles. The very tiny particulates in the smoke absorb sulfur dioxide and other volatile organic chemicals that go into your respiratory system. Day by day, those pollutants accumulate in your lungs and, finally, damage your health. It might cause asthma; it might cause respiratory disorders," says Yue-Lang Feng, an ADB Principal Environment Specialist.
In 2003, faced with bad traffic, pollution, and over 3,000 tricycles, City Mayor Edward Hagedorn implemented a scheme that allowed tricycles to ply the city streets only on alternating days, thus effectively cutting by half the number of tricycles on the streets on any given day.
Solutions Needed
"It's an embarrassment to be promoting the city as environment-friendly when there was so much air pollution. So we had to make a very drastic move," said Mayor Hagedorn. But it was not enough. Other problems-such as poor tricycle maintenance and the need to provide drivers with alternative livelihoods in a city with a 14% unemployment rate-remained.
A 2003 survey conducted by ADB found that 70% of the drivers do not properly maintain their tricycles. Most tricycle drivers are also low-income earners, taking home between P100 and P150, or less than $3, each day. Tricycle-driving is a popular means of earning a living in the Philippines since it does not require much skill.
The ADB study also found that the road network in Puerto Princesa is mostly made up of narrow streets. Thus, the demand for tricycles is only expected to increase, despite the fact that they clog the city streets, slow down traffic, and are more accident-prone than cars.
Thus, in 2005, the Air and Noise Pollution Reduction Strategies Project, funded by a $240,000 grant from ADB's Poverty and Environment Program, was launched to help reduce pollution from tricycles and to provide more "teeth" to the enforcement of air pollution laws. The project tackled the environmental and underlying social issues surrounding tricycle use, and lessons learned from the project will serve as the basis in formulating and replicating strategies in other Philippine cities that have similar air pollution problems.
Helping Preserve the Environment
"It's not only the preservation of our forest and marine resources that is our goal here in Puerto Princesa, but also for us to help in reducing global warming. And this is through our efforts to prevent or minimize air pollution. That is why it is very important that ADB supported us with this fund to help us in our desire to become part of the solution and not the problem in the preservation of our environment," Mayor Hagedorn said during the project launch.
From February to July 2006, a total of 481 tricycle drivers and operators (or 12% of the total 4,000, compared to the target of 10%) received preventive maintenance trainings, briefings on the Clean Air Act emission standards, and lectures on the differences between two- and four-stroke engines.
Twenty-five tricycle drivers were also selected to undertake 3-month intensive vocational courses on engine mechanics-a first in Palawan-that allows them to practice as certified engine mechanics.
About half of the grant was used to establish a Tricycle Multi-Purpose Fund, which provided financing for operators and drivers to purchase new units, convert their engines into more efficient technologies, or receive training for other means of livelihood. As of project completion in September 2007, about 109 two-stroke tricycles have been retrofitted, and 73 two-stroke units have been replaced with new four-stroke engines.
Puerto Princesa City now enjoys better air quality and less noise, fitting into the mayor's plan to position his city among the top tourist destinations in the country.
