LTFRB to require speeding alarms on Metro Manila buses

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) will soon require bus companies in Metro Manila to install on each bus a device that would set off an alarm if the bus goes over the speed limit.

The device will use GPS (Global Positioning System) and will alert the passengers if the bus is speeding.

"The Board will come up with a memorandum circular by May 1 which will require Metro Manila city buses to install GPS with a speeding alarm," LTFRB spokesperson Mary Ann Salada told GMA News Online in a phone interview on Tuesday.

The board aims to implement the regulation for provincial buses as well, Salada noted.

However, she declined to disclose how much installing GPS system would cost per bus.

Salada explained that this is the LTFRB's answer to the "intensifying public clamor" regarding road accidents, especially those involving buses.

"The need for this gadget was emphasized following the bus crashes," she said, referring to the GV Florida crash in Bontoc in February and the Don Mariano Transit crash in Taguig in December.

Salada added that the GPS project has been in the pipeline even before the fatal incidents occurred.

The Don Mariano had been speeding on the southbound part of the Skyway in Taguig City  when it struck the railing and fell the height of four storeys to the road below. Twenty-one people were killed, including the driver, who later died of his injuries in hospital.

Don Mariano's permit has been canceled as a result.

The GV Florida bus fell into a deep ravine in Bontoc, Mountain Province, killing 15 passengers and leaving 32 others injured. Among the fatalities were comedian Tado Jimenez, musician David Sicam  and visual artist Gerard Baja.

The LTFRB issued a six-month suspension on the bus company and revoked its franchise to ply the route where the fatal incident occurred.

The LTFRB earlier revealed that it will also require public utility buses to have speed limiters, tachographs, and CCTV cameras installed before the end of the year to reinforce passenger safety. — BM, GMA News