Students and teachers who will go back to school for the resumption of face-to-face classes on Monday, Aug. 22, in Metro Manila will no longer worry much about lack of transportation as the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has reopened 133 routes that will allow around 11,000 more public utility vehicles to hit the road.
LTFRB chairperson Cheloy Garafil explained that the reopened routes were among those suspended at the start of the Covid-19 lockdowns in March 2020 and are composed of 33 routes for city buses, 68 for passenger jeepneys and 32 for UV Express in the National Capital Region (NCR).
“With respect to these 133 routes, these involve 11,000 vehicles and most of them cater to the University-Belt areas and other schools,” said Garafil.
For instance, she said passenger buses coming from Fairview will already be allowed to pass Lawton and Taft Avenue in Manila before heading to the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX). During the pandemic, the buses are only allowed up to Quezon Avenue.
She said buses from Angono, Rizal, which used to be up to Cubao, and Biñan in Laguna, which used to be up to PITX, will also be allowed to unload passengers in Lawton.
Lawton is located strategically in Manila as it is just one ride away from major universities in Manila that include those in University-Belt and a walking distance for those schools located in Intramuros.
Before the pandemic, commuters need to take at least two to three rides before reaching their destination.
Garafil said the reopening of the pre-pandemic routes is a big relief for the students and parents and school personnel as they need not to spend more in transportation costs and spend more time taking a ride due to lack of transportation in the past two years.
She said it will also benefits workers.
This is the reason, according to her, why they prioritized the reopening of the pre-pandemic routes through two resolutions they approved that allowed drivers and operators to resume their operations.
And it includes giving special permits to city buses instead of the franchise which usually takes a long process of approval.
Open on weekend
For the city buses, Garafil said they have to apply for special permits before hitting the reopened routes.
“They can start the application on Thursday (Aug. 18) and it will take one to two days before these special permits for the reopened routes for city buses are released,” said Garafil.
In order to accommodate more bus companies in time for Monday’s face-to-face classes resumption, Garafil said they will be open this Saturday Aug. 20.
“Our target is to have all these public utility vehicles to start their full operations for the reopened routes on Monday in time for the face-to-face classes,” said Garafil.
For the passenger jeepneys, she said there is no need for special permit and what is just needed is their respective Certificate of Public Conveyance (CPC).
School services
Garafil also clarified that the LTFRB is neither suspending nor stopping the registration of school services amid complaints from operators that the agency is no longer renewing their permits.
“There is no truth to that allegation. They can always come to the LTFRB to renew,” said Garafil.