By Alexandria Dennise San Juan
Additional city bus routes are set to open in the coming days to transport more commuters as public transportation remains limited in Metro Manila under the general community quarantine (GCQ), the Department of Transportation (DOTr) announced.
Department of Transportation (MANILA BULLETIN)
Transportation Assistant Secretary Goddess Libiran said on Thursday that at least six city bus routes will be launched by the Department and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) on Friday, June 5, and on Monday, June 8, to service more employees and workers.
According to Libiran, the three routes to be opened on Friday are Route 1 from Monumento to Balagtas, Bulacan; Route 17 from EDSA to Montalban, Rizal; and Route 18 which will ply the NAIA Loop.
Meanwhile, the city bus routes that will be operational beginning Monday are Route 3 from Monumento to the Valenzuela gateway complex; Route 11 from Gilmore to Taytay, Rizal; and Route 21 from Monumento to San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan.
The LTFRB said that it is set to meet with the concerned bus operators to determine the number of units that will be deployed in the said routes immediately.
Prior to this, the LTFRB launched two city bus routes on Tuesday -- Route 5 from Angat, Bulacan to Quezon Avenue in Quezon City, and Route 28 from Dasmariñas, Cavite to the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX).
Many commuters had been stranded in parts of Metro Manila due to insufficient public transportation on the first days of the region's shift to GCQ.
Libiran earlier mentioned that the DOTr has been conducting daily assessments on the transportation sector since the shift to the GCQ to help them identify vital routes to be opened.
"This is part of our gradual and calibrated approach in the resumption of public transport operations in Metro Manila. Eventually, there will be additional routes to be opened in the coming days," Libiran added.