Fate of new PUJs in Cebu City in limbo

GROUP’S CONCERNS ON BRT, LRT PROJECTS

What will happen to the modernized jeepneys in Cebu when the mass transit projects such as Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and the Light Rail Transit (LRT) are realized?

Ryan Benjamin Yu, Cebu Integrated Transport Service Cooperative (Citrasco) president, raised this concern after last Monday’s signing of the Omnibus Franchising Guidelines (OFG) for the modernization program of public utility vehicles.

“We support the modernization program for the safety of the public, but we have little reservations. Of course we are investing. We are just concerned what will happen,” said Yu of Citrasco, a group which has 1,000 public utility jeepneys plying Cebu City routes.

Yu, who was present during the signing of the OFG at Manipula Hall, Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City last Monday, said he would seek an audience with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to raise this concern especially since he had not seen a copy of the OFG.

He said he also had no opportunity to raise his concern to DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade and LTFRB Chairman Martin Delgra III, who were present for the signing of the OFG.

“(The) DO (department order) will be published. (It) will be effective 30 days after publication,” said Delgra in a text message to Cebu Daily News when sought for comment about Yu’s concern and the particulars of the signed OFG.

Sought for comment, Ahmed Cuizon, regional director of LTFRB-7, said that the LTFRB spokesperson on the OFG and PUV is LTFRB Board Member Aileen Lourdes Lizada.

There are 17,000 jeepneys in Cebu, and 35 percent of these are already 15 years old and above.

For buses, there are 700 bus units plying Cebu routes.

Cuizon said that in 2014, the LTFRB started not accepting old bus units after a Resolution No. 2013-01 was signed in 2013.

“By this time, all our buses are no more than 15 years old,” Cuizon said.

Greg Perez, coordinator of Pagkakaisa ng Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide (Piston) Cebu, said he was worried that the modernization program would affect the livelihood of operators and drivers in Cebu.

“We are now discussing what will be our next activity related to this newly signed OFG,” Perez said in Cebuano.

Piston Cebu is one of the groups that opposed the signing of OFG, staging several rallies since last year.

Aside from the DOTr’s modernization program, Yu also pointed out the BRT and the LRT projects.

Although several jeepney routes in Cebu City would be affected by the BRT when completed, in an earlier CDN report, Rafael Yap, BRT project coordinator, encouraged jeepney operators to upgrade their units because it would not only be good for passenger comfort but also for the efficiency in operations of the operators.

For those operators and drivers affected by the BRT, Yap said displaced drivers could avail of the livelihood training program of the city government in partnership with Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda).

The implementation of the BRT will start next year. It is a P10.6-billion project that aims to ease traffic congestion in the city.

The BRT will span 21.5 km. from Barangay Bulacao in the south to Barangay Talamban in the north.

Meanwhile, Presidential Assistant in the Visayas Michael Dino said that the feasibility study for the LRT is already done and a proposal will be submitted to the national government.

“I don’t want to preempt anything. It’s coming soon,” Dino told reporters yesterday.

Dino said that the LRT project would be an advantage for Cebu City because a subway component would be built there.

“There will be no roads closed, no trees will be cut, and no establishment will suffer. No roads will be blocked, and traffic will continue to flow,” said Dino of the LRT project in Cebuano.