DOH seeks meeting with DOTr to tackle new spacing policy
Physical distancing measures between commuters in public transportation will be gradually eased to accommodate more passengers as the metropolis is slowly going back to life with many workers returning to their workplaces, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) announced on Friday.
According to the DOTr, the InterAgency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) has already approved the proposal of the Economic Development Cluster (EDC) to boost public transport ridership through optimizing or reducing the physical distance between commuters.
“There is a need to safely optimize the carrying capacity of the various public transport modes as Metro Manila and its adjacent areas continue with the transition towards the ‘new normal’ where more workers are expected to return to their re-opened workplaces and more businesses are expected to resume operations that were stopped during the enforcement of strict quarantine measures,” Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said in a statement.
DOTr Assistant Secretary Goddess Libiran said the Department of Health (DOH) has requested for a meeting to discuss the new policy.
“As to the start of the new implementation, we will advise once we are made aware of what was decided upon during the set meeting,” Libiran told reporters in a message.
The DOTr previously announced that starting September 14, physical distancing between commuters inside public transportation will be reduced to 0.75 meters from the current health standard requirement of at least one-meter distance as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The distance will be lowered to 0.5 meters after two weeks, and then to 0.3 meters after another two weeks to allow for optimization of ridership, it added. In a recent meeting with the IATF-EID, the DOTr explained that physical distancing measures can be safely adjusted as strict health protocols are now being enforced to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) such as the mandatory wearing of face masks and face shields of commuters.
Adjusted passenger capacity
For Class 2 modern public utility vehicles (PUVs) including passenger buses, the DOTr said that standing passengers may be accommodated.
For the railway sector, the following is the adjusted passenger capacity based on reduced physical distancing per train set: LRT-1 1-meter: 155 0.75-meter: 204 0.5-meter: 255 0.3-meter: 300 LRT-2 1-meter: 160 0.75-meter: 212 0.5-meter: 274 0.3-meter: 502 MRT-3 1-meter: 153 0.75-meter: 204 0.5-meter: 255 0.3-meter: 286 PNR 1-meter: 166 0.75-meter: 184 0.5-meter: 256 0.3-meter: 320.
As for airlines and passenger ferries, optimizing the physical distance between passengers will mean more passengers will be allowed to enter airports and seaports.
This will also increase the passenger load capacity on roll on-roll off (RORO) passenger vessels as follow: 1-meter: 50% 0.75-meter: 75% 0.5-meter: 85% 0.3-meter: 100%
‘Optimization will help more workers’
Meanwhile, National Task Force against COVID-19 Chief Implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. expressed his support for the optimization of physical distancing measures between passengers while inside PUVs.
According to Galvez, this will help more employees and workers to go to their workplaces despite strict quarantine measures being imposed by the government to combat the virus.
“Optimizing the physical distance between passengers inside PUVs without sacrificing strict health and safety protocols such as wearing of face masks and face shields, will help soothe the transportation woes of Filipino commuters. With public transportation, there is faster recovery of lives and livelihoods as we push forward under the new normal,” Galvez added.