Nocturnal bus routes to serve call center agents

CONCERN over the safety of call center agents who report for work or go off duty late at night or early in the morning, has prompted Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña to provide bus routes for them from 10 p.m. up to early in the morning.

The mayor said call center agents are discouraged to work the graveyard shift because going home late at night or very early in the morning is not safe and the cost of transportation is high.

“The biggest concern of call center agents is on working at night. It’s not safe. The cost of transportation is high, and they get inadequate service from transportation operators,” Osmeña said.

The city is now partnering with Ceres Bus Liner in order to provide call center workers affordable and safe transportation late and night and in the wee hours of dawn.

Osmeña met with executives of major call centers in the city and discussed transportation and neighborhood watch for their employees to encourage more people to work as call center agents and at the same time, encourage BPO companies to invest in the city.

The mayor said although the transport service will not be free, the fare will be affordable and call center agents won’t have to walk or take another ride just to get home.

No time frame was given but Osmeña said, “Soon there will be a seamless transition. We will start small.”

An inventory of the number of call center agents in the city will be done to determine the number of buses to be deployed.

Security in areas where call centers are located will be tightened. The mayor also said a neighborhood watch should also be organized with volunteers from the area itself.

Over the long haul, he added, the city government will be introducing the lodging industry in different barangays, which he hopes, will eventually result to agents living in one area or in one sitio so that buses will have organized routes.