Transport leader blames traffic crisis on LTFRB moratorium on UV express franchise

The Land Transportation and Franchising Board (LTFRB) 14-year moratorium on issuing franchises to UV Express has caused massive shortage of public utility vehicles that resulted in a traffic crisis, a transport sector leader said Thursday.

Mar Valbuena of the Samahang Manibela Mananakay at Nagkaisang Terminal ng Transportasyon noted that the LTFRB stopped issuing franchise to UV Express in 2003—a policy that stayed until such moratorium was lifted in 2017 but only under what Valbuena said were restrictive conditions.

“Since 2003, may kakulangan na po ng mass transportation kasi halos 15 years po na hindi sila nag-issue ng prangkisa. Dumami po nang dumami ang tao sa Metro Manila. Naroon po ang demand. Two million po ang pumupunta sa Metro Manila from nearby provinces. Ano ho ba ang ginagawa ng gobyerno? Valbuena said during the public hearing before the Senate Committee on Public Services on the traffic crisis.

“Hirap na hirap na ang mga taong araw-araw na nagcocommute. Ang solusyon na lang ba ng gobyero ang paghuli? Wala pong magcocolorum kung wala pong pangangailangan. Kung may masasakyan ang ating mga kababayan na PUV na convenient, baka hindi po na sila magdala ng private car at mababawasan ang traffic sa Metro Manila,” Valbuena added.

Valbuena then said that without enough PUVs, people started to buy private cars which eventually clogged the streets in an unprecedented rate.

LTFRB Chief Technical Division Head Joel Bolano did not dispute Valbuena, saying that the agency is already open to proposals of transport groups for new routes for UV Express, and that the agency opened UV Express routes in Dasmariñas and Molino in Cavite to PITX in Parañaque.

Given the inclusion of UV Express units in the PUV modernization program, Valbuena suggested that the government grant UV Express units amnesty for the first five years of the program, which starts in 2020, by issuing a special permit or provisional authority to be able to serve the commuters.

The PUV modernization project will ban PUVs, including jeepneys, aged 15 years old and above from plying the roads and replace them with e-jeepneys worth P1.6 million each.

Based on government records, there are at least 170,000 PUJs across the country.

“Sana may amnesty po. Kasi itong mga [UV Express unit na ito], puede na ito gamitin eh. Maseserbisyuhan na nito ang mga commuters. Tutal two percent pa lang naman po ng mga bagong jeep ang nagagawa,” Valbuena said.

Odd-even scheme

Jun Magno of the Stop and Go coalition and Reynaldo Bautista of National Confederation of Tricycle Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines, for their part, appealed to the government to implement an odd-even scheme for private cars only and designate terminals for tricycles which are accessible to the passengers.

“Nagpa-commission po kami ng survey, at nalaman namin ng from 6:30 am to 8 pm, mga seven percent lang po ng mga public buses ang dumadaan sa EDSA. Kaya sana po may odd-even sa mga private, at hindi na po kasama ang PUVs,” Magno said.

“Dahil po may Waze na at GPS, dinadaan na mga may kotse ang dinaraanan namin. Tapos ‘yung clearing po ng DILG, natakot na po kami. Eh hindi naman po kami puede sa national highway. Kami po pinakapapektado,” Bautista said.

“Kaya sana po may terminal, ‘yung hindi po kailangan maglakad ng pasahero ng 500 meters para makasakay sa amin,” Bautista added. — MDM, GMA News