A transport group appealed to the local government units (LGUs) in Metro Cebu to solve traffic gridlocks in their towns and cities as it has been affecting the livelihood of public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers.
Ryan Benjamin Yu, president of the Cebu Integrated Transport Service Cooperative (Citrasco), yesterday said many PUJ and taxi drivers have not been able to earn enough to meet rental dues because of fewer turnaround time as they were always stuck in traffic.
Drivers of PUJs owned by Citrasco members pay rental fees from P400 to P700 for a 15-hour period while taxi drivers pay P1,100 for the same span of time, according to Yu.
Yu said the drivers face the traffic congestion in Metro Cebu on a daily basis, and this would often get worse during heavy rains that result in the city’s streets being swamped by water, like last Friday’s widespread flooding incident.
Last Friday’s heavy flooding in major streets in the cities of Cebu and Mandaue affected the income of about a thousand jeepney and taxi drivers, Yu added.
Many PUJs were either stuck in traffic, got stalled in the flooded streets or unable to ply their routes, leaving hundreds of commuters stranded in PUJ terminals with no rides home.