Commuters outside Metro Manila may soon experience the convenience of riding motorcycle taxis for daily commute once a proposal to expand the scope of the pilot program materializes.

Responding to the report by the Department of Transportation Technical Working Group or DoTr-TWG, the House Transportation Committee on Wednesday signified its support to extend the motorcycle taxi pilot study outside Metro Manila.

Committee chair and Antipolo 2nd District Representative Romeo Acop said the program could be extended to the provinces of Cavite, Rizal, Laguna, Batangas, Iloilo, Bacolod, Pampanga, Davao, Zamboanga, Legazpi, General Santos, Pangasinan and Baguio.

Expand motorcycle taxi pilot study

The Passenger Forum or TPF, an advocate for commuter welfare, had earlier urged the government to expand the ongoing motorcycle taxi pilot study countrywide.

TPF lead convenor Primo Morillo said expanding the program will not only help commuters but will also solve the decades-old problem of habal-habal riders.

"The habal-habal started because of the scarcity of transportation and these drivers cannot properly register themselves so if expand the pilot program, we can easily resolve these issues," Morillo said.

Meanwhile, National Confederation of Tricycle Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines or NACTODAP president Ariel Lim also supported the need to disperse bike taxi operations nationwide.

Lim noted that the "overwhelming concentration of such services in the capital city" may adversely affect tricycle-related livelihoods.

"We do not condone motorcycle taxis because they actually help commuters in Metro Manila but they are getting more concentrated here and it may affect the livelihood of tricycle members," Lim said.

Land Transportation Office chief, Atty. Vigor Mendoza confirmed that the allotment of 45,000 motorcycle taxis in Manila has already reached its limit.