This is the graphics of the approved seating capacity approved by the Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board in Central Visayas (LTFRB-7) for traditional jeepneys to ply Mandaue City streets soon. | Photo courtesy of Mandaue PIO
MANDAUE CITY, Philippines — The traditional public utility jeepneys (PUJs) will be plying back again in Mandaue city streets soon.
According to Lawyer Jamaal James Calipayan, executive director of the Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue (TEAM), the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LFTRB) has already presented a format of the passengers seating arrangement and capacity.
However, Calipayan said that they were still discussing with the other two cities, Lapu-Lapu and Cebu regarding the traffic scheme, rules, and guidelines to be implemented.
“They (LTFRB) are passing it to us the decision on whether kung ato’ng padaganon og odd-even scheme ug uban pa. But we are still deciding as a tri-cities because there are no jeepneys nga Mandaue ra kutob or Mandaue ra gyud,” Calipayan said.
(They are passing the decision to us on whether we will let the jeepneys operate in an odd-even scheme and others, but we are still deciding as a tri-cities because there no jeepneys that only stop at Mandaue.)
Read: Lapu jeepneys may start serving Cebu, Mandaue routes soon
“Kani ato mga jeepney manabok man gyud ni sa uban’g lugar so, it needs to be decided as a tri-city nga decision kung unsa nga scheme para ma minimize ang traffic but ma accomodate sad ta ato’ng mga pasahero and ma enforce ang social distancing,” he said.
(Our jeepneys will cross into other areas so it needs to be decided as a tri-cities decision on what scheme to use to minimize the traffic but also to accommodate our passengers and enforce social distancing.)
Read: Cebu City open for talks with nearby LGUs for jeepney entry
They are also still deciding if the drivers should undergo rapid testing or swab testing and how often it will be required.
They might also impose the no talking and eating while onboard the jeepneys policy.
According to Calipayan, the LTFRB has yet to give the exact number of units that will be plying back again in the city streets.
He said that they requested to the LTFRB to allocate an appropriate number of units in areas where there would be more workers.
Read: Multi-party meeting drafts guidelines for Ceres drivers in Mandaue
Calipayan said that the return of the PUJ’s would not be compete with the Ceres buses because these buses had different routes.
“Walay rota ani nga gisubayan sa Ceres (tungod) Kani’ng rota under ni sa LPTRP (Local Public Transport Route Plan). Mao ni gidaganan sa Ceres, so traditionally ang kaning jeep nga modagan balik sa naandan’g rota. Naa siguroy magkasabay kay naa may uban mutuyok pero kasagaran wala gyud, ” he said.
(Ceres buses don’t ply these routes because these routes are under the LPTRP (Local Public Transport Route Plan). Those are the routes that the Ceres buses ply so, traditionally, these jeepneys return to their old routes. Perhaps, there will be buses that will pass through their routes because there are others who would go the long route to get back to their usual routes, but these buses are few.)
He said that these jeepneys, however, should pass the inspection first of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) before they would be allowed to return to the city’s streets./dbs