Junking old jeepneys

This time around, will the government manage to really be able to remove those old, dilapidated jeepneys from the roads?

In 2017, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) launched the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) with the expressed goal to phase out jeepneys as well as buses and other public-utility vehicles (PUVs) that are no longer safe for the public and are economically and environmentally unacceptable.

The biggest challenge in the plan, which is to culminate in July this year, was to modernize Philippine jeepneys, an iconic mode of public transportation unique to the country, but perilous for its commuters and the general public.

Not only do most jeepneys look like they are falling apart, but a large majority of them run on imported, but second-hand engines that have been scrapped for use in their countries of origin. They were, thus, fuel inefficient and spewed more than the acceptable harmful carbon emissions in the air.

The PUVMP seemed an elaborate plan where jeepney drivers and operators would be allowed to borrow money to acquire the approved modern jeepneys equipped with Euro-4 compliant or electric engines, with front-facing seats, having the entrance-exit on the right side of the driver, and capable of operating an automated fare collecting system.

High cost

But the cost – estimated between P1 million to P1.6 million per unit – seemed prohibitively high by any reckoning of the jeepney operators and drivers. At that time when the minimum fare was at P7, the cost of amortizing at break-even point was seen raising jeepney fares to at least P20.

Not only would the livelihood of an estimated 600,000 jeepney drivers be at stake, the public would also be inconvenienced by a tripling of base fares. At worse, the government would have ended with modern jeepney units that drivers and operators would not be able to continue amortizing.

Two years since the PUV modernization program launch, less than 3,000 new jeepneys of the estimated 85,000 units envisioned in the plan had been rolled out. Even if the program were extended by another year to July 2021, it would be impossible to achieve the goal.

Epic failure

No wonder then that Sen. Franklin Drilon harshly described the planning for the program as “hodge-podge,” not just referring to the setting of unrealistic goals, but also on how the goals would be achieved.

The epic failure of the PUVMP can also be attributed to a poor understanding of how the jeepney system in the Philippines operates, of why jeepney drivers persist in poverty, making barely enough to decently raise a family, and why jeepneys are so poorly maintained.

We see running jeepneys with balding tires, broken lights, leaking radiators, and worse, brakes that need to be pumped a few times to kick in. When will these go away?

For the PUV modernization program to work, jeepney operators and drivers need to form cooperatives to enable them to apply for loans to purchase the modernized jeepney units.

Any decent social worker, however, will tell you that cooperative building does not happen at the flick of a finger.

Without the necessary interventions to form jeepney drivers and operators into cooperatives, the whole program was bound to fail, and it appears headed to do so now.

Sticking to rules

In the budget hearings last year by the Senate, the DOTr failed to justify why it needed funds to continue the program to modernize PUVs. Lawmakers suggested what our transport officials could and should have been done years ago: sticking to the rules by not allowing unsafe and reliable PUVs on the road.

For decades now, the government has allowed undesirable PUVs, especially jeepneys, to be registered year in and year out. Franchises of jeepney operators continued to be renewed even if one or more units looked ready to collapse.

During the hearings, the DOTr agreed to allow existing PUV units to continue operating even beyond July 2020 as long as they pass the motor vehicle inspection system (MVIS) or a “roadworthiness test.” Just how credible and competent this test would be is anybody’s guess.

The MVIS, which was supposed to be implemented in January of 2018, seeks to establish an automated procedure that would test not just for smoke emissions, but also 71 other criteria for roadworthiness. Up until today, this continues to be unenforced.

Judging from the lack of complaints during the last two months by jeepney owners whose plate numbers end in one, two, three or four, it is safe to say that franchising and vehicle registration of PUVs pretty much go through the same cursory and reckless ocular inspections as before.

Temporary permits

The DOTr has warned jeepney operators that their franchises will only be renewed if they file a consolidated petition to modernize on or before June 30. Failure to file the petition would be grounds for the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to open their route to other applicants that have modernized PUVs.

Should operators file the required petition, however, the LTFRB will only give a provisional authority to operate for a year. This effectively gives operators another year to replace all their old units, especially those running on engines that are 15 years older, with new ones.

Jeepney groups are already protesting that this is a way for the government to force them to junk their old units. How this will pan out in the coming months will prove if the DOTr and LTFRB do indeed have the mettle to enforce what they have threatened to do.

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