Bound to fail, 2

We tackled in the previous article some of the worrisome features of the jeepney modernization program of the Department of Transportation (DOTr). Here’s more.

The cost of the prototype jeepneys considered as replacements to 15-year-old rickety public utility jeepney (PUJ) units is around P1.2 million less government subsidy, but when paid in installment (seven years) would actually cost a little more than P2 million. It has either Euro 4 or electrically powered engines with solar panels for roofs. It is equipped with closed-circuit television (CCTV) and dashboard cameras, speed limiter, GPS, even an automated fare collection system. It can seat from 20 to 22 passengers excluding the driver.

At first blush, one can exclaim, wow! It’s the DOTr pushing the PUJs to the modern wold. But is it compatible with the current state of the transport industry?

Okay. Remember the heydays of the fast craft, those sea vessels that travel fast, are airconditioned, have seat numbers and glossy interior, etcetera? People were brimming with expectations at that time until the losses came. Given a choice, a big bulk of the passengers still prefer the cheaper slow boats than the expensive fast crafts. Like we said, it is the situation on the ground that determines the level of “modernization” that should be introduced.

I remember one of those fast craft companies deploying a vessel or two to the Camotes-Cebu route. We were all agog, of course, because for once that route was provided with modern vessels instead of the wooden and bamboo pumpboats and/or rusty steel ships that already saw ther prime in other major routes of the country. The vessels were fast, airconditioned and assigned seat numbers to ensure all passengers were seated while en route to their destinations.

Weeks after, reality bit the ship owner. One time, I rode that fast craft during one peak travel week (was it All Saints’ and All Souls’ Day or the fiesta?). I found out that the seat number system was already dispensed with and the fast craft was heavy with passengers, some already standing for the duration of the travel. Ahh, good old profit motive. In the end, those fast crafts abandoned that route.

Another example. One company introduced a bus system in Metro Cebu’s southern route. All of the buses were airconditioned, with the promise that all passengers would be comfortably seated. Then again, reality bit. Soon some of the buses became old and in need of proper maintenance (especially the airconditioning units). And what do you know. During peak hours, seated passengers are regularly given the spectacle of passengers standing and tightly packed in the center aisle.

A PUJ with CCTV and dashboard cameras, GPS, automated fare collection system, speed limiter—and that could carry 20 to 22 passengers? I could just imagine what would happen to those PUJ units and those gadgets, not to mention the unit’s engine and, yes, solar panels, in just a few months of use. And what would the PUJ operators’ face be when shown the maintenance bills?

Again, there are reasons PUJ units are built and operated the way it has been for decades now. Didn’t the DOTr try to find out those reasons, and from there base its jeepney modernization plan?