DOTr opens all public transport as metropolis recovers from quarantine
As modes of public transportation have gradually resumed, the metropolis is also slowly going back to life with many workers returning in the road after more than two months of being cooped up at home during the hard lockdown.
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) rolled out on Monday the second phase of public transport revival, allowing modernized jeepneys to gradually resume opera
tions on 15 rationalized routes. UV Express units, the Department said, will be authorized to operate within the month.
The resumption of mass transit is being implemented by the DOTr in two phases. Trains, bus augmentations, taxis, transport network vehicle services (TNVS), shuttle services, point-to-point (P2P) buses, and bicycles have been allowed in the first phase from June 1 to 21 after Metro Manila’s shift into General Community Quarantine (GCQ).
Based on the latest data provided by the DOTr, a total of 20,429 TNVS units, 19,238 taxis, and 271 P2P buses in 28 routes are currently operating in the capital region.
While many commuters were stranded on the first days into GCQ, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) gradually opened 30 rationalized routes for city buses to ferry more essential commuters in the Greater Manila Area.
Prior to this, the DOTr and its attached agencies have been initiating programs since the enforcement of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) which began mid-March that mandated the shutdown of all modes of transportation, until the transition to a more relaxed GCQ this month.
Road Sector
Since public transportation suspended operations during ECQ, the DOTr has launched its Free Ride for Health Workers Program which aims to ferry medical frontliners going to their workplaces.
As of June 19, a total of 1,188,420 health workers nationwide have been transported via the 20 routes under the program. The free ride routes in Metro Manila were also integrated by the DOTr and different local government units (LGUs) to several online maps such as Google Maps and Sakay.PH.
For the continuous service of vehicles under the free ride program, the DOTr partnered with several oil firms in providing fuel subsidy to at least 120 participating units.
Railway Sector
Due to limited passenger capacity, the DOTr also deployed more train sets in various railway systems in Metro Manila such as the Light Railway Transit (LRT) Lines 1 and 2, Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3), and the Philippine National Railway (PNR), upon the resumption of their operations last June 1.
Currently, the Department said there are 20 trains running in MRT-3 (60 train cars), eight train sets (28 train cars) in PNR, five train sets (20 train cars) in LRT-2, and 28 train sets (101 train cars) in LRT-1.
With the reduced capacity of passengers allowed to board the trains in relation to physical distancing protocols, the DOTr also implemented a bus augmentation program for passengers of MRT-2 with a fixed schedule dispatching to assure swift travel time.
Several DOTr Malasakit Helpdesks were also established in transport hubs nationwide, including the 19 hospitals serviced by the Free Ride for Health Workers Program.
Aviation Sector
For the aviation sector, the DOTr has allowed the resumption of operations of 27 airports in GCQ areas, in coordination with LGUs.
It has also facilitated the unhampered movement of essential flights to ensure sustainability on the supply of food, medicine, and other needs, as well as essential people during the ECQ through directing commercial airline operations in GCQ areas to operate through a “hub and spoke” model where air carriers can use regional airports as an alternative airport hub.
COVID-19 testing laboratories have also been established by the Department at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport and in the Clark Civil Aviation Complex, while 43,763 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), 6,191 OFs, and 1,926 locally stranded individuals (LSIs) have been assisted in their mandatory quarantine through the “One-Stop Shop” (OSS) in NAIA Terminals 1 and 2.
Maritime Sector
The DOTr’s maritime sector also helped in facilitating unhampered delivery of cargoes by ensuring that ports remain open, and by adopting measures to decongest ports. The Manila International Container Terminal has recently been decongested with 4,000 twenty-foot units or TEUs transferred to the Manila North Harbor which include the 3,918 containers released to consignees, and 82 containers remaining at the port as of June 18.
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has also operationalized the Eva Macapagal Super Terminal which was transformed as a quarantine facility, along with two 2GO vessels as quarantine ships. A total of 439 individuals have finished their mandatory quarantine, while 95 individuals remain at the quarantine facility as of June 19, the DOTr said.
The DOTr has also administered reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction or RT-PCR tests to 62,179 individuals and rapid tests to 15,388 repatriated OFWs, while 689,441 fishermen and vessel crew, as well as 305,633 truck drivers or helpers entering the ports, have undergone medical screening conducted by the Department.
Amid the global pandemic, the DOTr and its attached agencies have also completed and virtually inaugurated 14 port projects.
Technology-driven initiatives
Apart from contactless and cashless transactions in public utility vehicles (PUVs), the DOTr also ordered its agencies to use technologydriven initiatives as part of the “new normal” such as the use of artificial intelligence, online transaction processing, electronic payment systems, RFID tags, and online contact tracing, among others, to further curb the transmission of the virus through limiting physical contact.
With this, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) is now implementing its new Land Transportation Management System for application of student permits and renewal of driver’s licenses at its 24 offices. Online transactions in the LTFRB are also now being conducted, except publication and case hearings, in the National Capital Region through its Public Transport Online Processing System.
Other projects and groundworks
In line with the directive of President Duterte, the DOTr has so far sent home a total of 43,777 OFWs, 733 students, 512 LSIs, and 1,517 stranded seafarers through the “Hatid Probinsya” program as of June 14.
The Department has also assisted the Department of Social Welfare
and Development and the Landbank of the Philippines in the distribution of cash assistance to a total of 44,551 PUV drivers, which translates to ₱356,408,000 payouts as of June 19.
Meanwhile, amid persistent calls to promote the use of active transport modes in the country due to transport restrictions because of the global pandemic, the DOTr, with the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), has commenced with the groundworks and mobilization of the bike lanes along EDSA. The establishment of the busway along the major thoroughfare and its complementary structures are now being
implemented as part of the EDSA transformation project.
The DOTr had earlier announced that it remitted ₱19.3-billion dividends to the Bureau of Treasury and freed up ₱16.893 billion of project funds which were submitted to the Department of Budget and Management for initiatives to mitigate COVID-19. Aside from this, the Department has also submitted to Congress a proposed financial assistance package for drivers and operators which includes fuel subsidy, deferral of loan interest rates, and no additional interest for deferred payments