MANILA – The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has opened seven “intra-regional” city bus routes and eight shuttle services routes as part of the slow and phased relaxation of Covid-19 quarantine restrictions in the country.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, the LTFRB said only public utility vehicles (PUV) such as city buses are allowed to operate as long as they have a valid and existing certificate of public convenience (CPC) or an application for extension of validity.
“Kinakailangang nakarehistro sa personal passenger insurance policy ang bawat unit sa mga rutang binuksan ng LTFRB (All units operating in routes opened by the LTFRB are required to be registered with personal passenger insurance policy),” the LTFRB said.
For PUVs that are operating as shuttle services, it said these units must be roadworthy and are compliant with LTFRB Memorandum Circular 2020-039.
The memorandum requires shuttle service providers, private companies, and government agencies to have a valid contract of lease until Dec. 31, 2021.
Shuttle service units are required to be registered and have a valid comprehensive passenger insurance policy, have been marked with the logo of the leasing company, and only used for the transportation of the company’s employees.
It said all PUVs, including shuttle services, are required to comply with minimum health standards in public transportation such as mandatory use of face masks and shields, no talking, no eating, have adequate ventilation, regular disinfection, barring symptomatic passengers from boarding, and following the “one-seat-apart” physical distancing rule.
To date, there are 42,590 public utility jeepneys (PUJ) plying 524 routes, 982 modern PUJs in 51 routes, 4,639 city buses in 35 routes, 404 point-to-point (P2P) city buses in 35 routes, 9,346 UV Express units in 152 routes, 21,663 taxis, 25,495 transport network vehicles services (TNVS), and 55 modern UV Express units in three routes across the country.
There are also 5,350 provincial buses in 241 routes and 204 provincial P2P buses that are connected to the National Capital Region (NCR).
Outside NCR, there are 104 provincial buses in eight routes, 65 provincial P2P units in three routes, and 57 provincial UV Express units in three routes. (PNA)
