Traffic gridlock wreak havoc on jeepney drivers’ income

RENZEL Garces, 27, said it was hard enough to make a living as a public utility jeep (PUJ) driver and the worsening traffic in N. Bacalso Ave. following the closure of F. Llamas Street only made it harder.

“Walay driver nga wala maapektaran dihang lugara (there is no driver who is not affected in this area),” Garces said.

Garces, who is plying the SM City Cebu to Bulacao route, said this southern Cebu City route has long been congested and it became worse after the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) began implementing the P683-million underpass project on N. Bacalso Avenue, which intersects with F. Llamas St.

On Thursday, March 1, DPWH 7 closed F. Llamas Street to give way to the construction of the third phase of the underpass project.

Garces said he used to make nine round trips per day, working from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., earning an average of P800 to P1,000. This time, he said, he could only manage to do six round trips, even if he has extended his working hours to up to 11 p.m. and would only earn P600.

Another PUJ driver, who requested anonymity, said that the trip from SM City Cebu to Bulacao used to take from 30 minutes to an hour. Now, he said, he would be lucky if the trip could be completed in under three hours.

The drivers, however, said they had no choice but to endure since they have no other means of earning a living aside from driving PUJs.

They said that they would just hold on to the promise of the government that this underpass would ease traffic in the long run.

“Wala naman mi mahimo. Mosalig na lang mi nga makaayo ni sa katawhan ang ilang gibuhat,” the driver said.

(We can’t do anything. We will just trust our government that this project is for the good of the public.)