Homegrown trike-hailing mobile apps sprouting

Navigatú incubatees working on their startup projects at their headquarters.

As if taking on the traffic gridlock of local public roads everyday hasn’t been challenging enough, Filipino commuters have to put up with rude drivers, unpredictable weather, unreliable public utility vehicles, and fares that change depending on the driver’s moods.

These daily challenges apply to all forms of public transportation in the Philippines, even to tricycles. No, especially tricycles.

According to 2012 data from the National Statistical Coordination Board, the number of for-hire tricycles and motorcycles operating in the country ran to 658,675, accounting for nearly 68 percent of the total for-hire vehicle population, outnumbering for-hire cars, utility vehicles, buses, trucks, and trailers.

Amidst the chaos, small solutions with big impact seem to come from the latest in communications technology. A tricycle-hailing mobile app (short for application) has been developed for residents of San Fernando City in La Union province. Called “Para,” this tricycle-booking app was developed by Jovan Ortega, president and chief operating officer of Para Software Inc.

Another app has been developed in Palawan province, called RiVeph to connect all services available in Puerto Princesa City and the rest of the province. Featured in Palawan-News.com just last April, this app can also be used to track “rogue” tricycle drivers, particularly those who overcharge and mistreat their passengers.

A similar app has also been in use in Tuguegarao City in the Cagayan region. The group is called Hack The North, and its app is called Tryke Patrol.

Inquirer Motoring found out on August 27 through the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) that a Mindanao-based team behind the mobile ride-hailing application for tricycles in Butuan, called Transeek, was launched last July in partnership with tricycle drivers. The Transeek team—composed of Information Systems students and Information Technology instructors from Caraga State University (CSU)—created the app, whose name is short for “transportation seek.”

With Transeek and other similar apps, users can book their ride to his/her destination, and the app will look for the nearest available tricycle, much like how ride-sharing apps for vehicles (such as Grab) do it. The app makes use of the internet and the smartphones’ Global Positioning System (GPS).

Transeek is part of the first batch of incubatees of the Navigatu Technology Business Incubator (TBI). Navigatu is DOST-Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development’s TBI in CSU. The DOST-PCIEERD funding commenced in November 2017.

Engineer Jeffrey T. Dellosa, Manager of Navigatu and Innovation and Technology Support Office, told Inquirer Motoring that Transeek also completed the incubation program from Navigatu last May 2019, and its members moved to their own office in Butuan City last June.

Transeek hopes to decrease delays and standby hours of tricycle drivers in the city.

Transeek began as a startup idea last year by its developers, IS student and team leader Angelito Cagulada Jr., and IT instructors Ernest Jay Cubillas and Lemar Arnego, while they were enrolled in Navigatú. Navigatú, taken from the word “navigation” and inspired by Butuan’s Balangay Boats, offers idea incubation programs and business skills courses for startups in the region.

The hub guided the Transeek team in developing the app and its business strategy. Just recently, the project allocated P2-million from investors for funds during its full operation. Based on a feasibility study on the system among 100 tricycle drivers in Butuan City, the team found out that the average daily income of tricycle drivers ranged from P400 to P500. With the help of Transeek, tricycle drivers could increase their income more than 300%.

The Transeek base fare for a maximum three passengers per ride is P30, with a service charge of P5. Drivers get P25 from the system for every ride. Transeek hopes to decrease delays and standby hours of tricycle drivers in the city.

“We have interviewed drivers during ‘Toda’ meetings, and most of them liked Transeek since they don’t have to waste time roaming around to look for passengers,” said Cubillas in a statement from DOST-PCIEERD.

Drivers register to the Transeek system for free. They will then be required to comply for insurance, which most tricycle drivers not enrolled in the system fail to secure.

The Transeek team has been among the first batch of “incubatees,” together with six more teams developing local IT solutions for agriculture, and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Facilities such as computer units and administrative functions are provided for free in Navigatú, enabling them to develop their startup ideas.

“Under the TBI program, the team was able to partner with a local investor in Butuan City with over a million pesos of investment to fund its marketing campaign, launching, and deployment of the mobile app in Butuan City. The team launched the mobile app last July 2019 in partnership with tricycle drivers,” said Dellosa in an Inquirer Motoring interview.

Dellosa added that “the team intends to launch the app strategically, first in Mindanao, having over 50,000 tricycles in different cities in Mindanao, and then moving to Visayas and Luzon. This shall be done by having strategic partnership with local players.”

Dellosa added that the market study conducted by Transeek was limited to the Mindanao area. The team has yet to look into the Visayas and Luzon.

When asked about Southeast Asia Grab’s premium tricycle ride app, Dellosa explained that for new players such as Transeek, the selling point is that these apps are Filipino-made ride-hailing mobile apps.