Transport group slams DOTC over speed limiters for buses

A transport group yesterday slammed the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) for its plan to implement a 40-kilometer per hour (kph) speed limit for buses in the country.

According to Efren de Luna, president of the 10,000-strong Alliance of Concerned Transport Operators, the DOTC plan was hatched without consulting the country’s transport groups. Among the ACTO’S members are several bus firms.

“This appears to be dictatorial on the part of the DOTC,”

he said.

DOTC Secretary Mar Roxas earlier said the measure aims to lessen accidents involving buses. At least 74 people died and 301 were injured in bus accidents in 2011.

Roxas said the DOTC will gradually implement the measure, which will require that a speed limiting gadget be installed in every bus.

The DOTC hopes to fully implement the new measure on all 4,000 buses in Metro Manila by December 2012. About 7,000 provincial buses will later be required to abide by the measure.

De Luna said the plan to reduce bus speed is just a measure to harass the transport industry.

“There is no need to reduce the speed to 40 kilometers per hour. At present, there is already a 60-kilometer speed limit being imposed on EDSA, Commonwealth Avenue and at the Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard. If it goes slower, passengers will no longer ride buses and the industry will die,” he said.