THE Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board-Davao Region (LTFRB-Davao) is planning to deploy 28-seater modernized PUVs in Davao City as a temporary solution to the shortage of transport vehicles in the city.
LTFRB-Davao Regional Director Nonito Llanos III said they are currently conducting a study to determine the feasibility of having modernized PUVs as a temporary measure before the Davao Bus Project becomes operational.
“We’re currently doing data gathering, and then by next week naa ta survey sa mga dalan (we will be conducting street survey) so it is a process,” Llanos said.
The LTFRB-Davao said around 1,000 public utility vehicles (PUVs) that used to ply Davao City routes are no longer operating.
“This is very alarming, affected ang atuang mga passengers (our commuters are affected),” Llanos said.
This equates to 30 percent of authorized PUVs not servicing their routes anymore due to various reasons.
One of the reasons is that several operators are just waiting for assistance from the Davao Bus Project and have mothballed their units.
The Davao Public Transport Modernization Project or the Davao Bus Project has a cost of P73.4 billion and entails a network of modernized buses to service the city routes replacing the PUJs.
As for the duration of the deployment, Llanos said this will be dependent on the implementation of the Davao Bus Project.
Llanos said the modernized PUVs (MPUV) that are planned for Davao City are 28-seater MPUVs similar to the ones operating in Davao del Sur.
He added that hopefully the deployment of MPUVs will be accepted and approved by the local government of Davao City. Approval is also dependent on the central office of the LTFRB.
“It will go on a process,” Llanos describes the realization of the interim MPUVs for Davao City.
He said before they will present the project to the city government the LTFRB-11 will have to complete the study.
“Hopefully, the second week of November we will complete the study,” Llanos said. PIA DAVAO
