Cebu City — At least 3,000 jeepney drivers and operators stand to lose their livelihood when the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system is implemented by 2018, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board in Central Visayas (LTFRB-7) said.
About 2,614 jeepney drivers, 912 operators, 1,191 franchises and 22 routes are expected to be adversely hit with the introduction of the BRT, which will see high-quality buses operating on a dedicated bus lane.
Cebu-BRT Office head, lawyer Rafael Yap, however, said the government will not take the affected drivers and operators for granted.
In fact, he said, the profiling of about 3,000 jeepney operators and drivers affected by the BRT system will start Monday next week.
The Base-Line Survey, which will be facilitated by LTFRB-7, will have affected drivers and operators filling out personal data forms, and avail of training and employment assistance programs through the intervention of the Technical Education Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
“We want to address all the concerns of the public utility jeepney (PUJ) industry, drivers, operators and their family members. We want to know these people individually not as sectors or groups but on an individual basis so we can hear the voices of the minority,” said Yap.
He added that enforcers and personnel of the City Integrated Traffic Operations Management (CITOM) and LTFRB-7 will distribute flyers on the Base-Line Survey for drivers’ guidelines.
Yap said the undertaking is an offshoot of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) entered into recently by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), (LTFRB-7), and the Cebu City government.
Based on the MOA, the DOTC, as implementing agency, will provide funds for employment assistance and skills training amounting to nearly R14 million.
For its part, LTFRB-7 is required to submit the statistical or analysis report together with the survey form to the national office by March 31.
es even at the time that the cost of such technologies would already fall.
The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) is reportedly planning to phase out passenger jeepneys that are at least 15 years old starting January next year.
LTFRB Chairman Winston Ginez said in a radio interview that the phase out of old and rickety passenger jeepneys is long overdue.
“We have already phased out old units of taxi, bus, school service and utility vehicles. We have to ensure the safety and convenience of our passengers. It is long overdue,” he said.
A group of jeepney drivers staged a transport holiday that paralyzed traffic in some areas in Metro Manila to oppose the LTFRB’s plan to retire old jeepneys saying they were not consulted.
As early as 5 a.m. on Monday, December 7, members of Association of Concerned Transport Organization (ACTO) gathered along the East Service Road near the Food Terminal, Inc. in Bicutan, Taguig and announced a transport holiday.
ACTO members blocked other jeepneys who decided to ply their routes despite the transport holiday.
Efren de Luna, ACTO’s national president, said the LTFRB should have consulted them about the plan to phase out old jeepneys, wrote Keith Calayag in his article published by Sun Star on December 7, 2015.
“They must have consulted jeepney drivers regarding their plan as they would be the ones affected once the rule is implemented,” Luna said.
The group also called for the resignation of Ginez and Land Transportation Office Chairman Alfonso Tan.
“They are the makers of transport laws against the poor,” the ACTO president said.
Ginez said the transport group’s strike is uncalled for and unnecessary as no final decision on the planned phase out has been reached yet.
He said he met with other transport groups to discuss the plan and the dialogue is continuing. The Pasang Masda and 1-United Transport Koalisyon backed the plan to phase out old jeepneys, claimed Ginez.
“We are going to sit them down. We will talk this over with ACTO. We are not even close to deciding yet,” he explained, adding “ACTO should be happy with the discussion in the dialogue. They are included in the decision making regarding the matter.”