161 jeepneys deployed to serve revised routes

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) on Tuesday allowed 161 more public utility vehicles (PUVs) to ply city routes and serve more commuters in perimeter border terminals.

The deployment of additional jeepneys was in response to the lack of PUVs to address the volume of passengers in terminals in Mohon, Arevalo, and Tagbak in Jaro, Public Safety and Transportation Management Office (PSTMO) head Jeck Conlu said in an interview.

The LTFRB, under the city’s Local Public Transport Route Plan (LPTRP), approved 1,767 modern jeepneys to ply the 24 rationalized and new routes, however, 91 were deployed while not all of the traditional jeepneys were able to operate on June 13.

“Because of the adjustments and provision of special permits to transport cooperatives, we were able to accommodate more passengers today. The 161 special permits will be in addition to the provisional authority issued by the LTFRB,” Conlu said.

The provisional authority is issued to transport cooperatives that are still operating traditional jeepneys but already working on transitioning to modern ones.

Conlu said they would accommodate the volume of passengers next week in Mohon and Tagbak terminals.

Based on PSTMO data, there are over 20,000 passengers daily in each of the three perimeter boundary terminals.

The city government has a six-month trial period wherein amendments to the LPTRP can be done based on the feedback.

Iloilo City launched its LPTRP last June 12, making it the first highly urbanized city to comply with the government’s Public Motor Vehicle Modernization Program. (PNA)