ANTICIPATING that reduced passenger capacity and other restrictions would bite a chunk off the expected income of public utility vehicle drivers and operators, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) has submitted a recommendation for a stimulus package for public transport to the House of Representatives.
“We are looking at fuel subsidies, liberal loans for drivers and operators, and deferment of interest on what they have already borrowed under our PUV Modernization Program,” DOTR Undersecretary Artemio Tuazon said during the Laging Handa public briefing.
Tuazon likewise said public health and safety would be used by the government as primary guiding factor for policies regarding the resumption of public transport services.
This will cover the determination of passenger capacities, the type of PUVs that will ply certain routes, the seating arrangement, even the system of fare collection.
“Only 50 percent occupancy of seats will be allowed for buses. The driver and the ticket conductor would be separated from the rest by a non-permeable material like acetate. For modernized jeepneys, we are looking at the automatic fare collection system for minimum contact,” Tuazon said.
Even for the elderly Pinoy jeep, the old system where the passenger’s money would be passed from hand to hand before reaching the driver will become history.
“Where the automatic fare collection is not available, people riding the traditional jeepney would have to pay the driver before getting on,” the DOTR official said.
For areas with health protocols already downgraded from enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) to general community quarantine (GCQ), Tuazon said commercial flights previously stopped will likewise be allowed to resume.
However, since the country’s major aviation centers like the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the Clark International Airport, and the Mactan Cebu International Airport are in areas under ECQ, the DOTR said airlines are encouraged to use regional airports in GCQ areas as their hubs.
“By way of preparation, we have closed all our airports for one week starting yesterday so we can put in place safety systems that we will need including test mechanisms for our inbound overseas workers,” Tuazon explained.
