Labella to LTFRB, bus operators: Let jeepney drivers from city drive buses

Ceres buses are ready to serve as temporary public transportation in Mandaue City. | Mandaue City PIO.

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella has written to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and bus operators to allow jeepney drivers from the city to drive the 221 buses deployed as public transport during the community quarantine.

Labella said that out of the 221 buses supposedly plying the streets to take workers to their workplaces, only 21 has been operational due to the lack of drivers.

READ MORE: LTFRB-7 issues 240 special permits as of June 2

The mayor said that some drivers may be hesitant to ply the city’s routes because they were not familiar with the streets around Cebu City since they were from the province.

“I am calling the jeepney cooperatives and PISTON group to give us the names of jeepney drivers who can drive buses. In the first place, city jeepney drivers are in a better position than provincial drivers because they are familiar with the city streets,” said the Cebu City mayor.

READ MORE: With few buses on the road, Cebu City needs jeepneys

If the bus operators will agree, this will provide 800 slots to jeepney drivers to fill with 2 drivers and 2 assistants per bus; thereby, helping them have a source of livelihood while they have not been allowed to drive their jeepneys yet.

Mayor Labella said this arrangement would be beneficial to the city drivers as they could earn while they were not driving their jeepneys yet.

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He said he hoped that LTFRB and the bus operators could consider this proposition especially since the commuting public really needed more buses around.

Mayor Labella’s proposition hopes to decrease the number of stranded passengers on the streets. /dbs