LAND TRANSPORT ROUTES | LTFRB allows Metro Manila jeepneys, UV express to return to pre-pandemic routes

December 29, 2022 , 04:34 PM

By Clarist Zablan

(December 29, 2022) – Transportation authorities have allowed public utility vehicles in Metro Manila and other neighboring provinces to return to pre-pandemic routes, as the government relaxes further mobility restrictions which were imposed during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis.

But jeepney and utility vehicle express (UV express) routes were modified so the vehicles do not cross the highly congested Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA).

In a memorandum circular dated December 16, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) said there is a need to respond to the growing passenger demand and clamor for public transport services.

LTFRB chairman Teofilo Guadiz III said the agency has anticipated an elevated demand in public transportation as more people returned to on-site classes or work.

“It took a while to assess everything based on existing public health protocols and we hope the reverting of these routes to their old structures will provide the riding public more convenience in reaching their destinations,” Guadiz said in a statement on Thursday.

The memo covered traditional and modernized jeepneys and UV Express vehicles within the Metro Manila Urban Transportation Integration Study Update and Capacity Enhancement Program (MUCEP) areas, and was made effective last Monday. MUCEP covers the capital region and provinces of Bulacan, Laguna, Cavite and Rizal.

The LTFRB will also open 28 additional routes – mainly in Manila, Parañaque, Makati, Pasay, Marikina, Pasig, Makati and Quezon City – based on the memo, said LTFRB technical division chief Joel Bolano.

Transportation advocacy groups have been calling on authorities to come up with “pro-people” solutions to address the problems in the country’s transport system, as complaints of heavy traffic and public transportation shortage mounted amid the holiday rush.

As of November 24, the average number of vehicles that passed through EDSA daily breached pre-pandemic levels at 417,000.

Julius Dalay, chairman of Commuters of the Philippines, last week said the traffic situation in Metro Manila has been “extraordinary” amid the holiday rush as many Filipinos have taken the opportunity to travel under fewer COVID-19 restrictions.

Some transport groups have also noted that a number of operators and drivers did not want to ply the roads anymore due to a surge in fuel prices this year and worsened economic conditions during the pandemic, causing public transport supply to further tighten.

(MM)

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