Passengers flock to terminals, ports after long New Year weekend

Passengers trooped to terminals and sea ports in different areas of the country on Tuesday, the first working day after the long holiday weekend in transition to New Year 2024.

At the Grand Terminal in Lipa City, Batangas, many passengers going to Manila were stranded due to the limited number of available buses, according to a report on GMA Integrated News’ Unang Balita.

Bus drivers and dispatchers apologized to the affected passengers and vowed that trips will be provided as soon as buses arrive.

In Batangas Port which is under a heightened alert status, some 2,000 passengers arrived on Monday evening, according to a report of GMA Regional TV Balitang Southern Tagalog’s Paul Hernandez.

In Calapan Port in Oriental Mindoro, around 1,000 to 2,000 passengers were also recorded on Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile, at the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX), 10,000 passengers have already arrived as of 6 a.m. on Tuesday, according to Ivan Mayrina’s report on Unang Balita.

An estimated 170,000 passengers are expected to arrive on Tuesday, PITX corporate affairs officer Kolyn Calbasa told Unang Balita in an interview.

“Inaasahan natin na aabot tayo ng mga 170,000 for today because of, sabay-sabay iyan na first work day of the year and of course arrivals natin coming from the provinces,” Calbasa said.

(We are expecting to reach around 170,000 passengers for today because this is the first work day of the year and of course some people will return from the provinces.)

On North Luzon Expressway, there was a slight buildup of vehicles that do not have radio frequency identification (RFID) stickers at the Bocaue Toll Plaza, according to a report of James Agustin.

The traffic at Balintawak Toll Plaza remained light as of 7 a.m.  —Joviland Rita/KBK, GMA Integrated News