Man behind wheel keeps transport on track
Reopening of international gateways in Clark, Cebu, and Davao is also being considered to help restart local tourism and ease the travel woes of returning overseas Filipino workers
After a long layoff which was equivalent to eternity among most public trnasport operators and drivers, Metro Manila’s transportation system has been slowly rolling out under a gradual program which is still oriented towards preventing a new spread of coronavirus infection.
The phase in of passenger vehicles started on 1 June when the capital city shifted from Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) to General Community Quarantine (GCQ).
The Department of Transportation (DoTr) which is in charge of the calculated program indicated that under the Public Transport Guidelines and Protocols, there will be two phases in the removal of restrictions on the operation of different modes of public transportation.
For the first phase that lasted until 21 June, trains and bus augmentation, taxis, Transport Network Vehicle Services (TNVS), shuttle services, Point-to-Point buses, and bicycles will be allowed to take the road with passengers stil subjected to limits.
Tricycles get green light
Tricycles will also be allowed provided that their operators secure prior approval from the local government.
Provincial buses wil be allowed to enter Metro Manila only on the later part of the scheme.
DoTr Secretary Arthur Tugade in explaining the guidelines said Metro Manila trains will only serve 10 to 15 percent of its capacity but buses which will use designated lanes is expected to make up for the reduced capacity of trains.
The sheer number of Metro Manila residents who wanted to return to their gainful employment overwhelmed the available transportation, thus the DoTr sought modern jeepneys to augment public rides.
Buses are now exclusively using the middle lane at EDSA which was a radical change from the special area given to buses nearest to the sidewalk that failed to ease the traffic problem.
The system being employed now involves 300 to 500 buses and include point-to-point or P2P buses.
Tugade said reopening of international gateways in Clark, Cebu, and Davao is also being considered to help restart local tourism and ease the travel woes of returning overseas Filipino workers.
Air travel is allowed from one
GCQ area to another under the current guidelines.
More rides tapped
The second phase, which is ongoing, reintroduced more buses, modern jeepneys and UV Express are allowed to operate but still with limited passenger capacity.
A major departure from the To effectively ensure and monitor the limited capacity and passenger load of all the public transport vehicles, the one-meter social distance rule between persons will be strictly enforced inside all mass transport units, in adherence to health protocols.
The trade off for the availability of transportation are long queues formed by commuters waiting for a train ride with reduced capacity which remains a precaution against increasing the chances of spreading the virus.
Public transportation was also required to enforce stringent sanitary measures. All drivers, personnel, and passengers are required to wear face masks at all times.
Availability of alcohol and sanitizers, disinfection of hightouch surfaces of vehicles, the establishment of disinfection facilities will be ensured in both PUVs and terminals.
Cash not needed
According to Tugade, the DoTr plans to more aggressively roll out cashless payment systems in taxis, buses, and modernized jeepneys to lessen contact between persons.
The new normal for the transportation sector will include an automatic fare collection system (AFCS) for cashless payment transactions, electronic toll collection, and GNSS/GPS, according the transport chief.
Tugade has encouraged the shift to the AFCS as maintenance and processing fees have been waived by AF Payments Inc (AFPI).
“We want to promote a new normal in public transportation. Shifting to cashless, and contactless transactions is part of that. It will be beneficial to operators since it reduces pilferage and other losses. It also automates accounting, and immediately provides ridership reports to the operator for analysis of its operations,” Tugade said.
DoTr Assistant Secretary for Road Transport and Infrastructure Mark de Leon said the initiative of AFPI can help boost the income of PUV operators.
Before the enforcement of community quarantine, AFPI was charging between 4 to 6 percent of their daily gross revenues, as maintenance and processing fees.
“Before, if a bus operator earns P20,000 per bus a day, it translates to a P1,200 pesos transaction cost daily. This decision of AFPI to waive its fees will be a big boost to the PUV operators’ income,” De Leon said.
AFPI said ticketing terminals will start accepting beep cards and GCash QR code payments.
The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has directed all PUV operators using the tollways and expressways to install Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags to enable cashless payments.
LTFRB chairman Martin Delgra said PUV operators will be required to use RFID tags in all their authorized units.
In compliance with the order, the Toll Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) has offered free installation of RFID to vehicles using the expressways, noting that contactless transactions will also prevent long vehicle queues at toll plazas.
Providers of electronic wallets such as GCash and Paymaya collaborated with taxi operators and ride hailing services to allow contactless payment of fares.
The trade off for the availability of transportation are long queues formed by commuters waiting for a train ride with reduced capacity which remains a precaution against increasing the chances of spreading the virus.
Under the proposed PESA bill, P560 billion will be appropriated for 2020 and another P730 billion for 2021 as government aid to various businesses
As we gradually reopen the country’s economy, those hardest hit by the coronavirus disease, like our public utility vehicle drivers and operators, airline employees, maritime workers, and airline as well as shipping companies, must be given assistance to give them the needed room to recover their income
Road to recovery needs support
To help the transport sector recover, the government said it needs to set aside a billion-peso budget to bankroll a subsidy program.
The government support is contained in the massive Philippine Economic Stimulus Act of 2020 (PESA), which aims to provide financial assistance for workers and businesses affected by the health crisis.
Under the proposed PESA bill, P560 billion will be appropriated for 2020 and another P730 billion for 2021 as government aid to various businesses.
Of the P1.3 trillion proposed budget under the bill, P650 billion will go to reenergize Build, Build, Build; P110 billion as wage subsidy to avoid layoffs and business closure; P70 billion as assistance to the transportation industry; and P10 billion as assistance to micro, small and medium enterprises.
Tugade said the economic stimulus package will help restructure existing loans and even avail of needed immediate assistance.
“As we gradually reopen the country’s economy, those hardest hit by the coronavirus disease, like our public utility vehicle drivers and operators, airline employees, maritime workers, and airline as well as shipping companies, must be given assistance to give them the needed room to recover their income,” Tugade said.
The DoTr had submitted a stimulus package to aid the aviation sector in the form of wage subsidy for airline employees and augmentation of airline companies’ working capital.
For the maritime sector, incentives and subsidies to support the passenger shipping industry were also proposed.
Commuters need modern transports
Tugade signed a directive amending a provision in the Department Order 2018-016 to address the affordability of modern PUV units and the financial viability of the program for drivers and operators.
From P80,000, equity subsidy for existing PUV operators with valid franchises and PUV operators applying for new or developmental routes under the Omnibus Franchising Guidelines (OFG) is now P160,000 per PUV unit.
“More PUV operators and drivers can now participate in the PUV Modernization Program as they are assured of access to loans especially from government-run banks,” Delgra had said.
Despite strong calls to halt the program, the DoTr was firm in pushing jeepney modernization as a much-needed reform that would restructure the “transport sector where drivers and operators have stable, sufficient and dignified livelihoods while commuters get to their destinations quickly, safely and comfortably.”
The DoTr initially targeted to fully implement the program immediately but it did not push through because of strong resistance from drivers and operators.
Subway plan keeps rolling
The DoTr said the modernization plan will be capped by the P355.6-billion Metro Manila Subway Project (MMSP) which remains on track to run in early 2022.
DoTr Assistant Secretary for Communications Goddes Hope Libiran said the department is keen on going underground even as the health crisis had disrupted the delivery of spare parts and raw materials of the project.
“Target partial operation of the project is still in the first quarter of 2022, it remains the same. The DoTr has ongoing discussions with JICA and our Japanese contractor on catch-up measures,” Libiran said.
Tugade recently said the groundwork of the project that would transform Metro Manila into an efficient hub is being fast-tracked.
“We will not stop because of coronavirus, we will not stop working,” Tugade said, reiterating the government’s promise to deliver the project before President Rodrigo Duterte’s term ends in 2022.