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The Motorcycle Freeways Ban
What Exactly is the Situation

How it all started
The regulation as it stands today
What the law actually says
Motorcycles are dangerous!

How It All Started
This is an area in which our information is still incomplete; however, the ban seems to have appeared first in 1968. In an Administrative Order dated 19 February 1968 issued by the Department of Public Works and Communications entitled Revised Rules and Regulations Governing Limited Access Facilities, the following rule is made: "On limited access highways, it is unlawful for any person or group of persons to: Drive any bicycle, tricycle, pedicab, motorcycle or any vehicle not motorized"

Based on stories we have heard from other members of the community, the inclusion of motorcycles in the list of vehicles not allowed inside the tollways seems to have started following an accident on the SLEX involving a police officer. Over thirty years ago, police officers on board motorcycles were ordered to escort visiting U.S. dignitary Richard M. Nixon to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Banos, Laguna.

The Government, wanting to give Vice President Nixon a nationalistic welcome, ordered these same police officers to replace their safety helmets with traditional Filipino hats. Unfortunately, tragedy struck along the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) when one of the motorcycle officers was killed in an accident on the way to IRRI.

In a knee-jerk reaction to this unfortunate but preventable incident, the Department of Public Works and Communications ordered an immediate ban of motorcycles from the tollways.

The Regulation As It Stands Today
Today, the Department of Public Works and Communications has been superseded by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). The ban is now maintained under the Revised Rules and Regulations on Limited Access Facilities issued in 1997 by the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) and approved by the current DPWH secretary, Gregorio R. Vigilar.

The ban reads as follows: "The following vehicles shall not be allowed in the Expressway at any time: a.) motorcycles, tricycles, and bicycles" The ban is enforced by the Philippine National Construction Corporation (PNCC) which is the only entity legally allowed to operate tollways as prescribed under Presidential Decree No. 1112 issued in 1977.

It is an interesting fact to note that the DPWH secretary, who has expressed very strong anti-motorcycling opinions, was also the Chairman of both the TRB and the PNCC. Here are some documented quotes from the DPWH secretary and his staff:

1. "The tendency of motorcyclists to sneak in and out of openings in the traffic is risky and dangerous, and coupled with the exhilaration and joy of speed, is the sure formula for accidents" Secretary Vigilar, 2 December 1999

2. "The Hurt Study which you attached to bolster your claim for exemption in fact is a justification of the ban." Secretary Vigilar, 2 December 1999

3. "To grant exemptions and allow certain types of motorcycles on the expressways will only cause confusion and might result in accidents which we are seeking to avoid by the ban." Secretary Vigilar, 2 December 1999

4. "Consistent to our commitment to protect the interest of the motoring public, therefore, we reiterate our objection to such an amendment (of the Revised Rules and Regulations on Limited Access Facilities)." Leonilo G. Javier, PNCC Vice President for Tollways Group, 26 October 1999

5. "PNCC's stand not to allow motorcycles inside the expressways has always been upheld in the interest of public safety." Leonilo G. Javier, PNCC Vice President for Tollways Group, 26 October 1999

6. "It is informed that the department cannot, with much regret, give favorable action since the policy of Congress in enacting this statute [R.A. 2000] is for the immediate preservation of public peace, health, and safety, (emphasis ours) or simply stated, the purpose of which is to forestall or prevent the occurrence of vehicular accidents especially considering the make of motorcycles." Manuel G. Bunan, DPWH Assistant Secretary for Legal and Internal Audit, 13 October 1999

What The Law Actually Says
Under the law, the only entity allowed to regulate a limited access facility is the DPWH. The law that gives the DPWH this power is Republic Act No. 2000, also known as the Limited Access Highway Act which was approved on 22 June 1957 by Congress.

Now here is where things get interesting. As an executive body, the DPWH is tasked to implement rules and regulations consistent with the intent of R.A. 2000. It tried to do this with the Revised Rules and Regulations Governing Limited Access Facilites. However, R.A. 2000 never mentions motorcycles. R.A. 2000 does allow certain vehicles to be banned from limited access facilities and it mentions these quite explicitly: A limited access facility "may be parkways, from which trucks, busses, and other commercial vehicles shall be excluded; or they may be free ways open to use by all customary forms of street and highway traffic."

The prevailing legal opinion is that before motorcycles can be banned from any limited access facility, the DPWH must first ban all "trucks, busses, and other commercial vehicles" and, after doing so, must then prove that motorcycles fall under the same category as these vehicles.

Obviously, this is not the case. But there is more to it than just R.A. 2000 and the DPWH implementing regulations. How does the TRB enter into the picture? Well, curiously enough, a limited access facility is not necessarily a tollway and a tollway is not necessarily a limited access facility, and R.A. 2000 gives NO power to the DPWH to delegate its authority to another government entity (especially one that reports directly to the Office of the President as the TRB does as decreed in Executive Order No. 67 dated 26 January 1999) but that's exactly what happened.

It turns out that on 5 April 1993, the DPWH issues Department Order No. 74 which designates the South Luzon Expressway, Nichols to Alabang sections, and the North Luzon Expressway, Balintawak to Tabang sections, as limited access facilities "subject to such rules and regulations that may be imposed by the DPWH thru the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB)". Take note that the limited access facility is identified as only a section of both the North and South Luzon Expressways and the TRB is given no authority to extend this.

In 1997, when the TRB issues the Revised Rules and Regulations on Limited Access Facilities, it conveniently oversteps its original and already questionable authority granted by the DPWH under Article I of the order, the following statement is made: "The Toll Regulatory Board (or the Board), in accordance with Department Order No. 74, hereby declares the North and South Luzon Expressways, including the Balintawak to Tabang Section of the North Luzon Expressway and the Nichols to Alabang Section of the South Luzon Expressway, as Limited Access Facilities or Expressways".

In a single, possibly entirely illegal declaration, the TRB extends the limited access facilities to include the entire North and South Luzon Expressways!   The Coastal Toll Road connecting Manila to Cavite, another roadway from which motorcycles are banned, was apparently never declared a limited access facility!

Motorcycles are Dangerous!
The Government wants us to believe that in banning motorcycles from the tollways, it is upholding public safety, but here is the real story: ‡ Any rule or regulation claiming itself to be in the interest of road safety must meet the standard of a valid countermeasure. The expressway ban on motorcycle operation does not meet this standard. In traffic safety parlance, an effective countermeasure is any action, measure, or step taken that leads to a quantitative reduction of accident or injury risk associated with the use of any type of vehicle by specifying a minimum or maximum standard for vehicle operation.

Looking again at the Revised Rules and Regulations on Limited Access Facilities issued by the TRB, we see that the following vehicles shall not be allowed on the expressways at any time:

1. motorcycles, tricycles, and bicycles
2. vehicles being towed
3. dilapidated vehicles or those with defective components
4. smoke-belchers
5. trucks carrying uncovered construction aggregates
6. vehicles carrying unfastened cargo
7. trucks exceeding a maximum gross vehicle weight

As can be plainly seen, restrictions #2-7 refer to standards for vehicle operation and are therefore valid countermeasures. A vehicle that is immobilized (#2), dilapidated (#3), smoke-belching (#4), carrying uncovered or unfastened cargo (#5-6), or overloaded (#7) may be fixed/corrected to conform to the standard. With restriction #1, what opportunity exists to correct the fact of the motorcycle being what it is, a motorcycle? ‡ The ban on motorcycles, does not define a standard for vehicle operation but is merely an absolute restriction on use that implies motorcycles, no matter what their condition or capability, are far too dangerous for use on public roads, a concept clearly inconsistent with the registration of motorcycles and the licensing of motorcyclists by the LTO and the fact that motorcycles are legally allowed to operate on all parts of the public road system with the exception of the expressways.

In addition, the ban cannot be said to lead to a quantitative reduction in accident or injury risk to road users as this merely relocates where motorcycles are allowed to operate as an alternative to operation on the expressways.

In fact, we assert that the ban actually increases the risk of accident or injury to all road users (motor vehicle occupants, bicyclists, and pedestrians) by forcing an entire group of road users (i.e., motorcyclists) onto roads where the actual number of road hazards is greater.

On the expressways, by design, traffic movement is highly predictable to all road users due to the one-way or uni-directional flow of traffic within a very narrow speed range. On the alternative access roads, any road user must contend with a wider range of traffic (not just motor vehicles but pedestrians and bicyclists) moving in the same direction, in an opposite direction (adjacent opposing lanes), in a perpendicular direction (intersections and driveways), and, at times, even random directions over a wider range of speeds.

The failure of the ban to improve traffic safety has already been confirmed by the DOTC in an internal memorandum dated 12 November 1999 from the Road Transportation Planning Division to the Undersecretary of Transportation, stating that the ban is an "unnecessary restriction on the operation of motorcycles which" does "not contribute to highway safety" and is "not in accordance with international norms".

International traffic research studies show that motorcycles are far from the most dangerous vehicles on public roadways. This dubious distinction rightfully belongs to commercial vehicles, large trucks and busses in particular, that are associated with traffic accident fatality rates over 50% higher than those of automobiles and motorcycles.

For more information please contact James Mirasol or Richard Santiago