Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talks to Filipino-Canadian manufacturers of the e-jeepney in front of a Makati City hotel during his recent visit to the Asean summit held in Manila.
Inquirer photo
A major transport group in Metro Cebu filed a petition last Monday to acquire 20 new air-conditioned passenger jeepney units at the regional office of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB-7).
“We are just waiting for the outcome of our petition,” said Ryan Benjamin Yu, chairman and general manager of the Cebu Integrated Transport Service Multi-Purpose Cooperative (Citrasco).
Yu said the purchase and acquisition is in anticipation of next year’s mass transport modernization program.
He said each air-conditioned passenger jeepney costs P3 million and has a 30-person seating capacity.
Yu said the minimum fare of the new units would be P15 and an additional one peso for each succeeding kilometer.
If the proposal gets approved, Yu said Citrasco will purchase 20 air-conditioned jeepneys from Hyundai Philippines.
Under the proposed mass transport modernization program, the phaseout will cover passenger jeepneys aged 15 years old and above starting next year.
Yu reiterated that their group is not against the mass transport modernization program.
But he said the government’s transport agencies must provide a viable alternative mass transport choice for the public.
“We are not against any modernization in the transport system, but there should be an alternative mass transport and a time frame of the phase out,” Yu said.
LTFRB-7 Regional Director Ahmed Cuizon said their agency accepted the petition.
“We will process it in due time since this is part of the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program of the government,” Cuizon said.
“We will also check if the jeepney units being applied for are compliant with our requirements and also, their drivers must receive fixed salaries,” he added.
Cuizon said the drivers of these new jeepneys will no longer have to collect fares from passengers since these units have an Automatic Fare Collection System.
The proposed passenger jeepney units must also have free access to Wi-Fi, GPS, dashboard camera and closed circuit TV cameras among other features.
These jeepneys must also be run by either electric or solar power or euro-4 fuels, Cuizon said.
He said their office is already finalizing the new routes for these jeepneys in coordination with the office of Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, who pushed for modern jeepneys to service employees of business process outsourcing (BPO) firms.
Cuizon said these modern air-conditioned jeepneys will operate on a 24-hour basis to keep up with the work shifts of BPO employees.
He said the route will start from Cebu City Hall then head to Robinson’s Galleria, Cebu Business, Park-Asiatown IT Park and vice versa.
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