No special permit yet for emergency buses

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) still has not approved of the special permit for the 12 emergency buses for Toril and Catalunan Grande, said Davao City Transport and Traffic Management Office (CTTMO) chief Dionisio Abude.

Abude told reporters yesterday, February 14, 2019 that the deployment of buses will have to wait until then.

He said they have already sent the implementing plan to the city government which including the routes and bus stops of the 12 Peak Hours Augmentation Bus Services (PHABS) or the emergency buses for the identified areas.

The Toril route will start from Toril District Hall, then corner Iwha MacArthur Highway, Gulf View (Gas Station), Ulas Shell, UM Matina – overpass, Roxas Avenue, and vice versa.

Catalunan Grande route will start from Santiago Villas, Catalunan Phoenix Gas Station, Matina GSIS, SM City Davao, Barangay Hall Almendras, Roxas via C.P. Garcia Highway, and vice versa.

These buses will only cater passengers during peak hours or from 6:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Fare will also be fixed at P40 regardless of point of origin.

While waiting for the approval of LTFRB on special permit, CTTMO continued their surveys in other areas in need also of augmentation buses such as Indangan, Panacan, Cabantian, and Mintal among others.

"Naa nay ginahimo na survey karon and isunod namo na siya kay ang requirement ra man gyud sa LTFRB ang requirement sa city nga mu-request og special permit (We have been conducting surveys now and we will have those areas next since the requirement of the LTFRB is for the city to request special permit)," Abude said. /