A TPUJ with route No. 04D seen plying on Escario Street on November 23, 2020, or three days after the city government officially allowed selected TPUJ units to resume operations. | CDN DIGITAL PHOTO/ Morexette Marie Erram
CEBU CITY, Philippines — More traditional public utility jeepneys (TPUJs) here were given the go-signal to return on the streets in the coming days.
The city’s Jeepney Task Force on Monday, November 23, 2020, reported that a total of 43 units of TPUJs have been issued with permits that will allow them to resume their operations, bringing the total number of reopened route numbers to 11.
These included route numebrs 12D (Labangon to Carbon); 12G (Labangon to Carbon via Pasil); 12L (Labangon to Ayala); 09C (Basak to Colon via N. Bacalso Avenue); 09G (Basak to Colon via C. Padilla Street); 06G (Guadalupe to Tabo-an Market) and 10F (Bulacao to Colon via N. Bacalso Avenue).
Last November 20, 19 units of TPUJ were the first batch that went back on plying the city’s streets after lockdowns brought by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) halted their operations for around 10 months.
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On Monday, however, the city government announced that they still needed more time to look into the possibility of allowing TPUJ doing cross-boundary travels to enter Cebu City.
Mayor Edgardo Labella said the city’s Jeepney Task Force, headed by Councilor James Anthony Cuenco, needed more time to study the impact of having more TPUJs in the city’s roads, in which he agreed.
Cuenco, in a separate interview, said their committee needed to know what factors or circumstances would arise if they would allow jeeps from other local government units (LGUs) ferrying passengers to and from Cebu City.
“These included drivers and passengers’ habits if there are violations and how rampant they are; the compliance of health protocols. This is so we can make the necessary corrections,” explained Cuenco.
Cuenco also said they needed at least two more weeks in doing the ‘study’.
“We decided that two weeks is sufficient time to do the evaluation and make some adjustments so that those units from other LGUs, we are more prepared to handle them,” he added.
Cebu City has been downgraded to modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) since September wherein TPUJs are allowed to resume operations.
But back then, they were still prohibited to return to the street due to various reasons. /dbs
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