The Effect of Angkas Safety Policy on Passenger Patronization

On Manila, Philippines
(Mangalinao, Loo, Maluyo, Tumbokon, Gonzales, Reyes)

ABSTRACT
The research’s goal is to address the passenger safety issues of motorcycle taxi company Angkas, and correlate
it to the rising demand of ridesharing services for motorcycle taxi patrons, despite the risks and hazards of riding
a motorcycle through heavy traffic in Manila. The data that the researchers analyzed came from questionnaire
surveys for Angkas riders which was conducted along the entry and drop off points of different Universities and
Colleges in Metro Manila. Data from Angkas passengers were gathered from online questionnaire surveys that
was posted on Angkas related social media pages.The data gathered from the surveys was then correlated to
arrive at a conclusion on whether Angkas’ safety policy significantly affects customer satisfaction and eventual
patronization.

Keywords: Angkas, motorcycle taxi, safety

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Angkas (DBDOYC Inc.) is a motorcycle ridesharing and delivery service based on Makati City, Philippines.
Angkas started its ridesharing services way back 2015, where it easily dominated the motorcycle taxi market in
the Philippines, as it has no other competitors, other than unregistered motorcycles called habal habal. Since
motorcycle ridesharing is a fast and easy way to travel around Metro Manilas’ worsening traffic condition, the
demand for motorcycle taxi services rose.

Figure 1: Angkas downloads as of 2019

 Figure 2: Motorcycle registrations from 2015
Graphs above show the rise in demand for Angkas’ ridesharing services, as the Angkas application has been
downloaded for over million times already since it was available for download on 2015. The total number of
registered motorcycle each year from 2015 is also shown. As the trend suggests, the demand for motorcycle taxi
services increased, which affected the number of registered motorcycles, as employees of Angkas were required
to use registered motorcycles for their ridesharing services.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Though Angkas claims that their riders are well trained, safety conscious, and only uses motorcycle models
from 2011 or newer, the rising number of motorcycle taxis around Metro Manila alerted the authorities from the
Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB). On 2017, The LTFRB challenged Angkas’
legality, as concerns regarding Angkas safety policies, insurance, passenger safety, and lack of business permit
was brought up. But it is undeniable that Angkas gained a lot of support from its patrons and transport
advocates. On December 2018, when Angkas seek help to keep the jobs of about 17,000 of their riders, as the
LTO decided to slash Angkas’ workforce by half, a total of about 20,000 riders and supporters protested against
the said decision.

Motorcycle taxis can easily maneuver around cars, trucks and buses along the heavily congested roads of
Manila, providing a faster way of travelling around the Metro. But is this kind of driving safe? Especially when
there is a paying customer on a rider’s bike. The problem is how to address these safety concerns, which is this
research paper’s main objective.

1.3 Significance of the Study

This study will be significant as it gathered data for motorcycle taxi rider driving behavior, driving tendencies,
attitude towards safety, and knowledge on common traffic rules and regulations. It also gathered data from
Angkas passengers, which was about their views on Angkas’ safety policy and if will they patronize Angkas
because of its safety policy.

As of 2020, the topic of motorcycle taxis as a sustainable mode of transportation is still up for debate. Hopefully
the data gathered from this research will help supply data for future researchers’ studies.

1.4 Objectives of the Study

 To address the issues on Angkas’ safety policy and its effect on customer patronization by analyzing the
data gathered from Angkas riders and passengers.
 To provide conclusions and recommendations based from the data analysis.
1.5 Scopes and Limitations
The researchers only conducted the survey within the city of Manila, thus survey results may change if the
surveys where done in other cities where Angkas operates. The research only complies accordingly to its
objetives.

2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter summarizes previous researches that are related to motorcycle taxis, motorcycle taxi safety polices
and motorcycle taxi accidents. This chapter important points and passages of the said related researches are
gathered to supplement the current research.

This chapter summarizes previous researches that are related to motorcycle taxis, motorcycle
taxi safety polices and motorcycle taxi accidents. This chapter important points and passages
of the said related researches are gathered to supplement the current research.

This study investigated the characteristics, attitudes, and self reported driving behaviors of 2
motorcyclist groups in Maoming, China. We found that many motorcycle taxi drivers were
male, older, less educated, and earning lower personal income than non occupational
motorcyclists. The characteristics can be explained by the illegal nature of the job and low
business entry requirements (Xu 2010). Hence, it is not surprising to find that motorcycle taxi
drivers had more driving experience, rode older motorcycles, spent more time riding, had
higher maintenance budgets, and were more likely to ride gasoline-powered motorcycles than
electric ones. Generally, they were more likely to pose road safety risks than non
occupational motorcyclists under some specific circumstances, such as speeding late at night
or early in the morning, not requiring passengers to use helmets, and running red lights. The
results suggest that motorcycle taxi drivers did not provide sufficient protection for their
passengers. Their passengers, therefore, would be vulnerable to injuries in traffic crashes.
(Wu and Loo, 2016)
According to an article by Long Truong (2019), on Mobile phone related crashes among
motorcycle taxi drivers, “Results show that ride-hailing motorcycle taxi drivers had the
highest prevalence of mobile phone use while riding a motorcycle taxi (95.3%), followed by
hybrid (88.6%) and traditional taxi drivers (64%). Approximately 32.6%, 19.3%, and 9.7% of
motorcycle taxi drivers reported being involved in a crash, injury crash, and mobile phone
related crash respectively. Mobile phone related crashes represent 20.5% of all reported
crashes”. 
Based from Mustafa Talib Yousif’s (2019) article: A review of behavioral issues contribution
to motorcycle safety, the main issues regarding motorcycle safety are speeding issues (The
author in Dodge et al., observed that speeding represents 34% of all fatal motorcycle
accidents), visibility issues (The author in Davoodi & Hossayni, had proven that the Daytime
Running Light (DRL) of motorcycle reduces accidents by 4 to 20%, and the headlight of
motorcycle and the use of fluorescent jacket increase the conspicuity of a motorcyclist.
Whilst Ranchet et al., had proven that the utilisation of yellow headlight increases the
visibility of a motorcycle. However, the efficiency of yellow light is less in the street), and
alertness issues (The author in Lumba et al., had proven that in Indonesia, the probability of
fatigue-related accidents was represented to be 48%. Besides, Thi et al., revealed that
accidents caused by the distraction due to mobile phone usage to be 9%)
An article by Luis David Berrones-Sanz (2018), The working conditions of motorcycle
taxi drivers in Tlahuaac, Mexico City, shows that a group of motorcycle taxi drivers did
show a lower frequency of traffic accidents than other transportation workers (17.9%, versus
45.4% for drivers of taxis and microbuses). However, it can be inferred from these
characteristics that there is a relationship among their standard of living (as measured by
salary), their working conditions (physical wear and tear), and the state of their health. The
precarious material conditions of the drivers' lives makes it difficult to reproduce

3. METHODOLOGY
The questionnaire surveys for Angkas riders were conducted along the entry and drop-off points of different
Universities and Colleges around Metro Manila.

SCHOOL NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS

MAPUA 150
LYCEUM 50
UST 50
LETRAN 100
LASALLE 50
TOTAL 400
Table 1
The survey questionnaire for Angkas riders are divided into five sections. Section 1 is for their personal
information. Section 2 is for the driving experience and Angkas training. Section 3 is about their riding habits
and tendencies. Section 4 is about customer safety and customer care. Section 5 is about their Road crash
experiences.
On the other hand, questionnaire surveys for Angkas passengers are conducted by posting survey forms on
motorcycle taxi related social media pages. The questions on the survey for passengers are targeted to confirm
Angkas riders’ answers on their respective questionnaire surveys. It also asked passengers on their views on
Angkas’ safety policy and if will they patronize Angkas because of its safety policy.
A total of 400 Angkas Riders and 400 Angkas passengers participated on their respective surveys. The data
gathered from both surveys was analyzed and then correlated in order to formulate a hypothesis, on whether
Angkas safety policy significantly affects customer patronization. The correlation was then tested for its
significance.

4. ANGKAS RIDER QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY RESULT

4.1 ANGKAS RIDER PERSONAL INFORMATION

From 400 Angkas riders that answered our survey questionnaires, 98% were male and 2% were female. More
than half (58%) of the riders are under the 20-30 years old range. The average age of the Angkas riders is 31
years old.

232

2%

Male 125
Female

98% 48

20-30 30-40 40-50

400 Respondents

Figure 2: Rider gender percentage Figure 3: Rider age distribution

Out of 400 Angkas riders, (57%) went to high school and (42%) went to college. Based from a question from
the survey that asks about how many hours per week they work as an Angkas rider, (71.5%) works full time and
(28.5%) works part time.
400 respondents

228

286
168

114

4
Elementary High School College

400 Respondents Full Time Part Time

Figure 4: Rider educational background Figure 5: Rider work classification

Figure 6 shows Angkas riders monthly income. Majority of the riders earns between PHP 20,000 to 30,000. The
average monthly income of the riders is PHP29,500.Most (79.5%) of the Angkas riders’ motorcycle engine sizes
ranges from 100cc to 150cc ,a few (20.5%) of riders have a motorcycles that has engine size that ranges from
150cc to 200cc.
300 350

250
300

241
250
200

200
150
150

100 108
100

50
51 50

0 0
0-10k 10k-20k 20k-30k 30k-40k 0-100 100-150 150-200

400 Respondents 400 Respondents

Figure 6: Rider monthly income (PHP) Figure 7: Riders’ motorcycle engine size
4.2 DRIVING EXPERIENCE AND ANGKAS TRAINING
All riders said that they took and passed the actual driving test and driving licensure exam from the LTO. (78%)
of the riders said that they are capable and licensed to drive any other type of vehicles.

400 350
350 300
300 250
250 Yes No 200 Yes No
200 150
150 100
100 50
50 0
312 88
0

Figure 8: Riders Figure 9: Rider capability of driving

confirmation of taking LTO Other vehicles
driving test and licensure
exam
Majority (78%) of the riders agreed that Angkas’ seminars, trainings and driving skills test improved their
overall knowledge on traffic rules and regulations, driving skills, and passenger safety measures. (67%) of the
riders said that it took tem 2 tries to pass Angkas’ driving skills test, (28%) passed at their first try and (4.5%)
passed after 3 or more tries. Figure 12 shows how many years these riders are employed at Angkas. Majority of
the riders are employed at Angkas at around 2 to 3 years. The average years that a rider was employed at
Angkas is 2.6 years.

400 300

350
250
300

200
250
Disagree Tend to Disagree Tend to Agree

200 150 1 2 3 4 or more

150 Agree
100
100
50
50

0 0
0 0 26 374 114 268 12 6

Figure 10: Rider insight on Figure 11: Riders on how

whether Angkas training many times they took the
improved their driving Angkas driving exam before
skills. thy passed.

140

120

100

80
1 2 3 4 or more
60

40

20

0
80 108 126 86

Figure 12: Rider’s work experience

as an Angkas rider
4.3 RIDING HABITS AND TENDENCIES
All of the riders said that they wear their full safety gears when they are on their Angkas duties. (63.5%) of the
riders said that they tend to change lanes about 30%-60% of the time. (92%) of the riders said that they always
(60&-100% of the time) use their road visibility tools (headlights, brake lights, reflective clothing)

Figure 13: How often riders change lanes Figure 14: Rider usage of visibility tools

Most (64%) riders said that they always (75%-100& of the time) follow traffic rules and regulations. (56%) of
the riders said that they tend to pass through small gaps between other vehicles and sidewalks 50%-75% of the
time.

Figure 15: Rider use of signal lights Figure 16: Rider obedience on traffic rules
An alarming (47%) of riders said that they still accept bookings even when they feel tired. (35%) of the riders
said that they sometimes (40%-70% of the time) lose focus on the road when using their mobile devices or
talking to their passengers on an ongoing trip. (42%) of the riders said that when passing through small gaps
between vehicles, they sometimes (40%-70%) misjudge the distance between the said spaces.
 Figure 17: Riders on driving when tired
Figure 18: Rider tendencies on
passing between
small gaps

4.4 ROAD CRASH EXPERIENCE

Out of 400 rider respondents, only 16 (4%) of them experienced road crash while on duty since they started
working on Angkas. Out of the 16 riders that experienced road crash, 4 of them experienced minor injuries from
the crash, while the other 12 riders weren’t injured at the crash, but experienced minor damage to their
motorcycles (broken side mirror, broken headlights). All of the riders which said that they experienced road
crash while on their Angkas duty said that the crash happened while they have no passengers on their respective
bikes.

450 4.5
400 4
350 3.5
300 3
250 2.5
200 2
150 1.5

100 1

50 0.5

0 0
YES NO Fatal Injury Non Fatal Injury Minor Damage to Major Damage to
property property

Figure 19: Riders that experienced Figure 20: Injuries or damage from
road crash the road crash

4.5 CUSTOMER SAFETY AND SERVICE

All of the riders said that they are required to lend helmets for the passenger’s safety during the trip. (75%) of
the riders said that they give their passengers sanitary materials (shower cap, face mask) before the ride, while
(25%) said that they only give the sanitary materials when the passengers asked for it.
450
350
400
300
350
250
300

250 200

200
150
150
100
100

50 50

0 0
YES NO Before the trip Only when they ask

Figure 21: Riders on passenger Figure 22: Rider on giving

helmet use passenger’s sanitary materials

5. ANGKAS PASSENGER QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY RESULTS

Questions for Angkas passengers are targeted to confirm the Angkas riders’ answers on section 3 (Angkas Rider
driving habits and tendencies) and section 4 (Customer Safety and Service), their opinions towards toward
Angkas’ safety policies and issues, and their overall customer satisfaction that leans towards patronizing
Angkas, and believing that motorcycle taxis are safe and a sustainable mode of transportation.

5.1 ANGKAS PASSENGER PERSONAL INFORMATION

(54%) of the respondents are students, (38%) are employed, and (8%) are self-employed. The average of
Angkas passengers is 26 years old. The data suggests that most of Angkas passengers belong to the middle
class, as the average salary of the passengers is somewhere between (PHP18,200 to PHP36,400).

5.2 ANGKAS TRIP INFORMATION

(38%) of Angkas passengers book their trips from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m., while 52% of them booked their trips from 7
p.m to 8 p.m. (38%) of passengers said that they book Angkas rides on a regular basis (70% to 100% of every
trip to and from school or work). (41%) of passengers said that they book Angkas rides semi regularly (40%-
70% of every trip to and from school or work).(53%) of all Angkas bookings are for trips that were between
7km to 10km, showing that most of Angkas bookings are for short trips.

Angkas passenger on what time they book rides Distance of Angkas bookings
60
53
50
1
3%
12% 2
3 40
38% 4
5
6 30 28
22%
7
8
9 20 18
8%
1% 12%
2%2%
10

1
0
1 2 3 4

Figure 23: Angkas rides time of booking Figure 24: Distance of Angkas bookings
5.3 OPINIONS ON RIDER DRIVING HABITS AND TENDENCIES
This part of the passengers’ survey has the same questions as chapter 4.3 of this paper, but asked at the point of
view of the passenger. This is to confirm the riders’ answers to chapter 4.3 survey questions, as the riders tend
to have some biased answers at that part of the survey.
(88%) of passengers agreed that their Angkas rider significantly speeds of late at night. (78%) of the passengers
confirmed that their riders always (60%-100% of the time) give them helmet, and sanitary materials. The only
question that the passengers didn’t agree from the riders’ answer was the question about how often the rider
goes through small gaps between other vehicles or the sidewalk. The passengers said that their riders goes
through these small gaps almost always (75%-100% of the time).

5.4 OPINIONS ON ANGKAS SAFETY POLICY

On a survey that asks the passenger on how safe they feel during their Angkas rides, the average level of safety
that the passengers felt is 6.9 out of 10. Even though that (92%) of the passengers feel safe because of the
required helmet use, sanitary materials, knowing that their rider underwent training before being an Angkas
rider, and Angkas insurance, the reason for the good but not very good level of safety felt by the passengers is
because (62%) of the passengers feels unsafe whenever the rider goes through the gaps between other vehicles
(especially trucks) and the rider’s occasional speeding (especially late at night). When the passengers were
asked to rate the rider’s for their overall driving habits and tendencies, the total average score the passengers
gave the riders is 6.7 out of 10.
(81%) of the passengers said that they patronize Angkas and believe that Angkas is a sustainable mode of
transportation, but when asked about if they patronize Angkas because of its safety policy, the average total
score was only 3.5 out of 10. (77%) of the passengers said that they will still be booking their Angkas rides
despite the safety issues and concerns.

6. DATA ANALYSIS
From the data that we gathered from thw two surveys, we then conducted data analayis to test for the significane
of Angkas rider riding habits and tendencies to the passenger’s level of safety and patronization.

The data below shows the t-test done for the rider habits and tendencies score, and the level of safety felt by the
passenger. Since the t-test shows that there is no significant difference between the means of the rider habit and
tendencies score and the passenger’s felt level of safety, the data suggests that a higher rider score corresponds
to a higher passenger’s felt level of safety.

Rider score and passenger LoS

300

250

200

150

100

50

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Figure 25: Rider score and passenger LoS

 Rider score vs passenger LoS t-test
0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Figure 26: Rider score vs passenger LoS t-test

The figure below shows the t test of the passengers’ level of safety, to their tendency to patronize Angkas
because of its safety policy. Since there is significant difference between the two data, we can’t correlate them
effectively as the data suggests that there are other reasons to consider regarding the patronization of Angkas by
its passengers.

Passenger LoS vs patronization tendency due to Angkas safety

200 policy
180

160

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Figure 27: Passenger LoS vs patronization tendency due to Angkas safety policy
 Passenger LoS vs patronization tendency due to Angkas safety policy t test

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12

Figure 28: Passenger LoS vs patronization tendency due to Angkas safety policy t-test

7. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The researchers were successful on gathering the data from both Angkas riders and passengers. The data
analysis that was done based from the survey concludes the following:
An Angkas rider with better rider score (rider with positive riding habits and tendencies) tends to make their
passengers feel more secure and safer.
Main issues regarding motorcycle accidents includes visibility factor, alertness factor, speeding tendencies,
fatigue factor and going through gaps between other vehicles. These factors were taken into account by our
surveys. To conclude: (92%) of Angkas riders said that they always equip themselves their reflective clothing,
and properly use their signal lights and headlights. 52% of the riders said that they often (50%-75S% of the
time) go through gaps between other vehicles, while 42% of the riders said that when passing through small
gaps between vehicles, they sometimes (40%-70%) misjudge the distance between the said spaces. On the other
hand, an alarming (47%) of riders said that they still accept bookings even when they feel tired. (35%) of the
riders said that they sometimes (40%-70% of the time) lose focus on the road when using their mobile devices
or talking to their passengers on an ongoing trip.
Relating the data from the level of safety felt by the passenger, to the passengers’ tendency to patronize Angkas
because of its safety policy resulted to an inconclusive test. It is because though safety reasons are of course an
important factor to consider when travelling, people who book Angkas trips didn’t really booked because of
Angkas’ safety record or insurance policies, but because Angkas provide these passengers with a faster way to
travel around Manila, and an on demand solution to the daily congestion around the Metro.

8. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We would like to thank All Angkas riders and Angkas passengers that participated on our questionnaire surveys,
as the data gathered from their answers is where our research revolved. We would also like to express our
gratitude to our professor, engineer John Paul Carreon, who approved our topic and guided us through the step
and research methods in order to conduct and finish our research.
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