DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 31 October) – The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board – Region 11 (LTFRB-11) is studying the possibility of deploying modern public utility vehicles (PUVs) to address the problem of mass public transportation in the city.
During Wednesday’s Habi at Kape media forum, Nonito A. Leanos, LTFRB-11 director, said that the agency plans to propose the deployment of modern PUVs while the city awaits the implementation of the Davao City Public Transport Modernization Project or the High Priority Bus System (HPBS), a mass public transportation project of the national government that seeks to address the problem of traffic congestion here.
A technical working group from LTFRB-11 is currently conducting a study of the traffic and public transport situation in the city and is targeting to complete it by the second week of December, he said.
Leanos said the objective of the study is to recommend sustainable solutions to the inefficient mass public transportation system, as the local government noted an exponential growth in the number of commuters in the city.
He said that a total of 87 modern PUVs are being deployed in Davao del Sur. Each air-conditioned unit has a capacity of 28 passengers.
“We are talking about public utility vehicles, which are comfortable, affordable, sustainable, and accessible for our people,” he said.
According to him, over a thousand PUVs, including jeepneys, ceased operations after the coronavirus pandemic due to various factors, including the inability of PUV owners to maintain their units, non-compliance with road worthiness of several aging units, and anticipation of transitioning to HPBS by jeepney operators and drivers.
Leanos acknowledged that there is a demand for an efficient public transport system from Dabawenyos and that he believed the deployment of modern PUVs could possibly offer an “effective solution” in addition to the Peak Hours Augmentation Bus Service or PHABS while the city awaits the HPBS.
Several commuters in the city, particularly office workers and students, have complained about getting stranded during peak hours due to shortage of PUVs, particularly jeepneys. In response, the local government has implemented the PHABS, deploying buses to 14 existing routes across the city, of which four were opened last October 17.
The newly-opened routes are University of Mindanao (UM) Matina campus to Maa, UM Matina campus to Matina Aplaya, Puan to Roxas Avenue, and UM Bolton campus to Indangan.
There are around 30 bus units servicing all PHABS routes, Leanos said.
“With this study, we are expecting to introduce a new public utility system in Davao, which will be using a modernized public utility vehicle if the city government will allow, and this will operate until such time that the bus system of Davao will be implemented,” Leanos said.
He clarified that the HPBS remains to be the long-term and sustainable solution to the city’s mass public transport problem.
During the Mindanao Infrastructure Summit at the SMX Convention Center Davao on October 10, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista assured the Dabawenyos that the implementation of the HPBS is still on track.
He said the national government is eyeing the project to be operationalized by 2026.
“As far as the project is concerned, it’s a go,” he said.
Bautista said that the financial requirement to get the project implemented is “not really that problematic” as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) reaffirmed its support to the national government in the implementation of this project.
The total project cost of P73.4 billion will be funded by a loan from the ADB, and national and local budgets.
On July 1, 2023, the Philippine government signed a $1 billion (P54.89 billion) loan agreement with the ADB for the HPBS in Davao, a project that is seen to address the city’s worsening traffic condition.
According to ADB, the loan would “support the procurement of a modern fleet of about 1,100 electric and Euro 5-standard diesel-fueled buses with operations managed by the private sector under performance-based contracts.”
It added that the HPBS would service about 800,000 passengers per day.
It said the project would include the “construction of around 1,000 bus stops with bright lighting and shelters, five bus depots and three bus terminals, and provide bus driving training for the new system.”
Once operational, the HPBS will have 29 bus routes divided into the following four tiers: MetroDavao (will form the core services that connect all major commercial centers along five routes), DavaoInter (will run along with eight routes connecting the inner urban areas directly to the Davao Central Business District), DavaoFeeder (will run along nine routes linking smaller centers and areas of more dispersed populations to the MetroDavao services), and DavaoLocal (will provide a link between the outer rural areas of the city and main transport system or the integrated terminals). (Antonio Colina IV / MindaNews)
