Angkas partners with health experts to study motorcycle taxis’ ‘safeness’ amid COVID-19 crisis

Motorcycle ride-hailing firm Angkas is partnering with the University of the Philippines College of Public Health (UP-CPH) to conduct a study on making motorcycle taxi services safe and viable during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis.

In a virtual press conference on Tuesday, UP-CPH head Vicente Belizario Jr. said the institution conducted a study to formulate health protocols to be used when riding motorcycle taxis in the new normal.

Belizario said UP-CPH will “provide guidelines and recommendations for the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) and the transport industry.”

For his part, UP-CPH assistant professor Paul Michael Hernandez said the use of barriers or shields between the rider and passenger provide an additional layer of protection to reduce risk of COVID-19 transmission.

Hernandez also enumerated some highlights of the health protocol to be implemented for motorcycle drivers and passengers.

“Riders can disinfect regularly-touched surfaces frequently. They should also do handwashing and the usual respiratory etiquette,” Hernandez said.

“Aside from wearing masks, riders can use their own helmets. The better the ventilation, the higher the wind speed, the more they can access clean air,” he said.

“We can explore barriers in lessening the transmission of the virus,” he added.

Operations of motorcycle taxis were cut short in March, ahead of the pilot study’s expiration in April, due to the enforcement of enhanced community quarantine in the entire Luzon.

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board’s technical working group determining the viability of motorcycle taxis as a mode of public transport earlier told the House of Representatives that its recommendations are based on the pilot study.

Angkas chief transport advocate George Royeca said the company is optimistic that motorcycle taxis can be allowed once again to serve the commuting public as it works on ways to make riding safe in time of the health crisis.

“Angkas has always been about collaboration. Let us help each other in a collaborative effort to create a new world. Hopefully, we can live in this new world relatively safe. Wear a mask, magdistansya tayo. Sana sundin at all times because it will save lives,” Royeca said.

Also in the same virtual briefing, California-based Total Control Training president and motorcycle expert Lee Parks commended Angkas’ proposed barrier for its “lightness, visibility, and flexibility.”

“It's really light, it's less than one kilogram. It needed to be clear enough [so people can] have visibility, looking through it,” Parks said.

He explained that “when the bike accelerates, the passenger can hold on to the handles at the bottom of shield. The rider has resistance when braking. The handle system is essential so the passenger can hold on.”

“When the drivers tested out the shield they did not feel it due to its lightness and to aerodynamics,” Park said.

The National Task Force on COVID-19  approved the use of the proposed barrier designs of Bohol local  government and Angkas as it passed safety standards.

The deadline for installing a barrier on motorcycles for back-riding has been extended to July 26.

Royeca, meanwhile, said the company will vouch for the safety of motorcycle taxis as mode of public transportation at the upcoming hearing of the House committee on transportation on Wednesday.

The Angkas chief also noted that its biker-riders and its app-based ride-hailing system can be helpful in the government’s contact tracing efforts.—AOL, GMA News