Provincial transportation policy is more expensive and poses greater health risk
March 5, 2021The movement restrictions imposed to arrest the spread of the COVID-19 virus has created an amalgamation of transportation issues for the already struggling commuting public due to the implementation of the modified routes policy on provincial bus routes imposed by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).
The transportation policies being cited pertains to the modification of routes which made usual straight one-way trips into double or triple trips for commuters just to reach their final destination in Metro Manila. The need to disembark and board new buses under the truncated routes are an unnecessary physical burden on commuters, let alone very expensive transportation fares that have increased by an average of 33.3% from pre-pandemic fares.
These policies must be reviewed as the majority of workers, essential to our economic growth, are public transportation commuters that need to travel far distances to their respective places of employment. Our industries must have the manpower to continue operations to sustain their economic output.
Health must be a primal concern in the implementation of transportation policies. The “double handling”, or double exposure of commuters now happening because of the current transportation policies doubles the risk of spreading infection. Commuters should not be forced to transfer terminals, as it exposes them more and increases their chance of getting Covid-19. What should be implemented is a straight, terminal-to-terminal trips that are fully supervised as well as monitored on their compliance to the IATF protocols. This will also lessen the hazard and difficulty for PWDs and Senior Citizens.
Furthermore, “colorum” vans are now rampant and are victimizing the already burdened riding public who are desperately getting to their destination with exorbitant rates at roughly P2,500 per trip!
We at CitizenWatch Philippines call on the DOTr to immediately change its current provincial bus policies to allow terminal to terminal bus routes. This will be more be more convenient, less expensive and will lessen exposure to the virus for commuters.
Atty. Tim Abejo
Co-Convenor