The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) vowed on Monday, July 18, to increase the number of buses plying the EDSA Busway amid complaints of insufficient number of passenger vehicles to ferry commuters to and from their work.
For a start, LTFRB Chairperson Cheloy Garafil said they will settle the payment for bus operators for their services delivered during the past administration’s EDSA Carousel program.
The non-payment for the services has been the complaints of bus operators who felt they duped into signing a contract with the government.
LFRB records revealed that the payment for Week 6 of the EDSA Carousel Program remain unpaid. The program is now at Week 13.
“We are now fast-tracking the payment to include up to Week 10. We also promise to ensure that all the payment will be updated,” said Garafil.
Based on her meeting with Department of Transportation Sec. Jaime Bautsita, Garafil said they are planning to deploy more buses to ensure that all commuters would not be affected by bus shortage.
Currently, there are only 200 buses operating at the Busway during rush hours. The ideal buses should be 440.
On the other hand, Bautista vowed to look into the proposal of setting up bus terminal at Monumento in Quezon City in order to ensure that bus drivers will have a resting area.
“This (bus terminal) will be of big help in ensuring that there will be enough buses that could immediately be deployed during rush hours,” said Bautista.
The other issues discussed during the meeting were the setting up of facilities at the bus stops to make the passengers comfortable and protected from rains, adjustment rate whenever there is oil price hike, limited standing during hours and to limit the use of the bus lane to buses.