LTFRB to phase out 15-year-old jeepneys, buses

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) will soon start to implement a long overdue program designed to rid major thoroughfares in Metro Manila and the rest of the country of rickety old passenger buses and jeepneys.

LTFRB chairwoman Ma. Elena Bautista said the government will be seriously implementing an order issued by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) in 2002 that bases the age of a vehicle on its date of manufacture, not its registration as a public utility vehicle with the LTFRB and the Land Transportation Office.

Jeepneys and buses found to be aged 15 years and older can no longer have their franchises renewed by the LTFRB when their campaign starts, Bautista said during a forum of the Manila Overseas Press Club.

She said the DOTC order laying down the program was issued two years ago but is being implemented only now.

"I only inherited this problem," Bautista said, admitting that she expects the program to generate a lot of controversy, with many jeepney and bus groups opposed to the phaseout.

The DOTC decided to phase out aging public utility jeepneys and buses, considering them safety hazards on the road as well as environmentally unfriendly.