Senator Grace Poe has urged the government to address the plight of commuters who are forced to pay for more rides due to the lack of public utility vehicles (PUVs) on roads.

The chairperson of the Senate Public Services committee cited a report of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) finding a significant increase in the transportation index in March, which accounts for 25.5 percent of the country's total inflation.

"The lack of PUVs is the reason why people cram themselves into buses and jeeps that are available because they do not know when the next ride will come,” Poe said in a statement Friday, April 9.

“When bigger vehicles such as buses and jeeps aren’t available, commuters are forced to take short-route rides, hopping from one area to another, kaya mas nagmamahal (that's why transportation expenses are increasing),” she explained.

The senator raised that this also increases the risk of contracting the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The PSA said that inflation rate for transportation jumped to 13.8 percent in March from the 10.4 percent recorded in February, mostly due to the 47.5-percent acceleration in tricycle fares.

Poe said the Department of Transportation (DOTr) "can learn a thing or two" from the efforts of local government units in responding to the needs of commuters while providing employment despite very limited resources.

She noted that the DOTr was one of the government agencies receiving the most appropriations in the national budget.

Last Thursday, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) announced that it will allow 4,400 more PUVs next week to ferry essential workers. Some 250 routes nationwide will be reopened to accommodate more jeepneys and buses.

“The agony and peril that our commuters go through just to earn a living and make both ends meet amid the pandemic deserve heightened attention from government,” Poe appealed.