Cebu City Councilors James Cuenco (left most) and Philip Zafra (second from left) meet with PUV operators in the city. | CDN Digital photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines—Cebu City Councilor James Cuenco, the chairperson of the committee on transportation, said that public utility vehicle (PUV) operators have committed to help with the lack of transportation during rush hours.
The councilor met with operators on June 28, 2022, to discuss the current situation on the ground.
Rush hours from 5 to 8 p.m. shows the most challenge because workers will be going home from work.
“Ingon ang traditional jeepneys, sugod sa alas 5 sa hapon, mopasada. Kung padung uli from the city, puno. Pero ig roundabout, ig padung sa city, walay pasahero so ang ubang jeepneys dili na mobyahe.”
“Now ang nasabutan, the PUJs will fill in the gaps sa mga routa nga busy kaayo. Ang uban reroute sila sa areas nga busy kaayo,” said Cuenco.
The primary solution Mayor Michael Rama has announced for the lack of public transport in the evening rush hour was for the city to deploy free buses.
However, the operators said that this will put them at a disadvantage because they won’t have passengers to ferry.
With this, Cuenco has asked the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) to observe the areas of concern during the rush hour so that the buses will only cater to these areas.
“Ang immediate solution nato is to deploy all units. Daghan mag available units pero di sila mopasada kay alkanse sa krudo,” said Cuenco.
Service contracting
Cuenco said that he will be proposing service contracting for the PUVs for at least a few months as a form of reprieve for operators.
This will also solve the transportation problem as operators are paid per kilometer travelled and by passenger, which ensures that there will always be PUVs traversing the street on every shift no matter the traffic.
“Mao gyod ni atong solution nga nakita nga pinaka makatabang. But it will take time because ato pa ning ipropose sa Council,” said the councilor.
Based on calculation, Cuenco said the city can budget P20 million per month for 5 months for the service contracting, but this is subject to the approval of the City Council and Mayor Michael Rama.
Mayor Rama, for his part, said he has yet to receive the proposal and will talk about service contracting with Cuenco in the coming days.
“I’m not going to say yes yet because I’m going to go to the bottom of this matter. I need to see the rationale, propriety, and financial requirement about this,” said the mayor.
/bmjo
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