Senator Erwin Tulfo on Tuesday, September 30 urged the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to be more considerate of Persons with Disability (PWDs) who will use the EDSA Busway as their main mode of transportation.

Tulfo expressed his concern during the briefing conducted by the Senate Committee on Public Works, where several infrastructure projects of the DOTR and the Department of Public Works and Highways were discussed.

“Hindi po siya PWD friendly, ‘yung atin pong EDSA busway. Paano po kung gusto ng isang person with disability na may mobility problem [sumakay]? Paano po yan? Ano po ang plano natin dito? (Our EDSA busway is not PWD-friendly. What if a person with disability who has mobility problems wants to ride? How will that work? What is our plan for this?)” Tulfo asked.

He also suggested to the DOTR that transportation companies catering to the EDSA Busway provide a kneeling bus for PWD commuters.

“‘Yung mga bus po natin. I believe kailangan ‘pag kakausapin niyo na yung mga owners po ng bus, yung mga companies po natin—hindi rin po sila friendly kung mga naka-wheelchair (Our buses—I believe that when you talk to the bus owners and companies, they’re also not friendly to people in wheelchairs),” he noted.

“Kailangan na po natin na they introduce yung mga buses na kneeling bus. Yung bumaba para ma-accommodate po yung nga naka-wheelchair, yung gumaganon kagaya sa ibang bansa (We need them to introduce kneeling buses—those that lower to accommodate people in wheelchairs, like in other countries),” he went on.

Apart from these issues, Tulfo mentioned the need to ensure the comfort and safety of the passengers using the EDSA Busway.

The lawmaker noted that some bus drivers are staying for too long in one station which causes traffic jam in the bus carousel.

“Yung busway natin, napapansin lang po natin na parang wala pong time limit 'pag dumating po yung isang bus sa bus stop. Eh minsan 10 minutes siya doon, nagkaka-traffic-traffic tuloy dahil nag-aantay pa po siya (In our busway, we notice there seems to be no time limit when a bus arrives at a bus stop. Sometimes it stays there for 10 minutes, which causes traffic because it’s still waiting),” said Tulfo.

“Hindi ba natin pwedeng gawin na two minutes ka lang, lumarga ka na dyan, lumayas ka na dyan dahil may mga nakapila sa likod mo (Can’t we make it so that a bus can only stay for two minutes, then it has to move on because there are others lined up behind it?)” Tulfo said, suggesting additional stations for the EDSA Busway.

DOTr Undersecretary Mark Steven Pastor told the committee that the agency had already installed timers that give each bus one minute to fetch passengers.

Security guards and members of the DOTR-Special Action and Intelligence Committee for Transportation were also deployed to ensure that the movement of the buses inside the busway is unobstructed.