Mandaue now has 71 buses plying in and out the city

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

CEBU CITY, Philippines — A week into general community quarantine (GCQ), Mandaue City now has more buses plying in and out of the city to help ferry commuters.

Read: TEAM Chief promises ‘improved’ mass transport system under GCQ

Lawyer Jamaal Calipayan, Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue (Team) executive director, told CDN Digital through a phone interview from 40 buses deployed last Monday, they now had 71 buses operating as of Sunday, June 7, 2020, as their temporary fix for their public transportation.

“Yes, 71 buses na and ang Ceres bus ni ingon sila nga by this week, mapun-an na pod kuno because they are hiring drivers, kay most sa ilang mga drivers are from other islands and provinces nga maglisod pa sa pagbalik,” said Calipayan.

These drivers will soon be helping in carrying and ferrying commuters in the special routes in Mandaue during GCQ.

Calipayan said in the previous interviews that they were working hard to slowly fulfill their promise to deploy 120 buses around the city.

Read: Mandaue experiences moderate to heavy traffic on 1st day of GCQ

The chief of Team, however,  still asks the public for a little patience as they try and further improve public transportation in the city.

“So far maayo ra man gyud ang dagan noh kita sa Mandaue nakaprepare ta when it comes to public transporation although kuwang pa gyud.  Naa gyuy makahuwat huwat gyud ang mga taw, (pero) naa gyud silay masakyan kay naa man gyuy magtuyok,” said the lawyer.

(So far, public transport in the city is doing well because Mandaue City had prepared for it although it is still not enough. There will be commuters, who will still wait for awhile but they can get a ride on a public transport because buses continue to serve the different routes.)/dbs