NEW MODERN PUV ROUTES. A modern public utility vehicle (PUV) plying the Banawa-I.T. Park route passes along the busy street of Gen. Maxilom Avenue in the uptown area of Cebu City. The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board released Memorandum Circular 2020-001 on Jan. 7, 2020, mandating the issuance of one new route each for Cebu City and Valencia, Negros Oriental under the Department of Transportation's (DOTr) PUV Modernization Program. (PNA file photo)
CEBU CITY – The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has opened a new public transport route each for Cebu City and Valencia, Negros Oriental under the Public Utility Vehicle (PUV) Modernization Program of the Department of Transportation (DOTr).
Eduardo Montealto Jr., regional director of LTFRB in Region 7 (Central Visayas), in an interview on Thursday, said their central office in Manila last week released Memorandum Circular 2020-001 announcing the opening of 17 new routes in nine different regions in the country, including the two in Central Visayas.
The new route here covers the Talisay to I.T. Park crossing via Labangon, and the Valencia-Palimpinon-Bacong Loop in Negros Oriental.
Montealto said these new routes are considered developmental since no public utility jeepney (PUJ) has plied it.
He said the LTFRB-7 will bid out the issuance of 15 new Certificates of Public Convenience (CPC) otherwise known as a franchise for the Cebu City route, and 16 for Valencia.
In both new routes, the LTFRB requires the transport cooperative or corporation joining the bidding to deploy Class 2 modern PUJs.
“The new memorandum circular is clear that only PUJ units compliant to the Omnibus Franchise Guidelines and the Department of Trade and Industry – Philippine National Standard (PNS) will be accepted in the bidding process,” he said, adding that applicants for the new franchise may upgrade their unit from Class 2 to Class 3.
Class 2 units are air-conditioned and the passengers will be seated facing the front of the vehicle.
Montealto said interested transport cooperatives or corporations are encouraged to submit a letter of intent and “qualification documents” at the LTFRB-7 temporary office at the fourth level of Robinsons Galleria in the North Reclamation Area here not later than 9 a.m. on Monday (Jan. 20).
The opening of the sealed documents will follow at 10 a.m. of the same day, he said.
“In case of failure on the initial qualification process, interested applicants shall be given 10 working days reckoned from the date when the initial qualification has been declared a failure to file their letter of intent and qualification documents,” the memorandum circular said.
The applications will be processed and selected using the guidelines set forth under the Guidelines on the Process of Issuance of Certificate of Public Convenience and Provisional Authority/Special Permit under the Omnibus Franchising Guidelines and Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program issued on March 15, 2019.
Montealto said the 15 new units for this city are part of 8,000 units needed to modernize public utility vehicles here. For the entire region, the board is targeting at least 11,000 units.
“Modern PUVs will reinforce the Integrated Intermodal Transport System (IITS) of the DOTr that includes bus rapid transit, point to point bus system, skyways and monorail that will all converge in one depot or terminal,” he said. (PNA)
