New routes opened for P2P buses

MANILA, Philippines — The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has opened up 28 new routes to be served by point-to-point (P2P) buses in the hope of easing the lack of public transport.

The agency said the P2P buses would be ferrying passengers to Imus, Bacoor, Dasmariñas and Noveleta in Cavite; Sta. Rosa and Calamba in Laguna; Cainta and Antipolo in Rizal; Malolos, Balagtas, Pandi, Sta. Maria and Plaridel in Bulacan and to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and Sangley Airport in Cavite.

The P2P buses serving the 28 routes have been issued special permits by the LTFRB as part of control measures being enforced under general community quarantine (GCQ).

“These buses abide by the conditions on the issuance of Special Permits at terminals prior to and after operations and during operations. The conditions include the health and safety provisions as outlined by DOTr (Department of Transportation), aligned with the protocols set by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) and the Department of Health (DOH) to ensure safety of passengers as well as bus personnel,” the LTFRB said in a statement.

At present, the P2P bus routes are Las Piñas-Makati, Sucat/PITX-Makati, Eastwood-Makati, Fairview-Makati, Alabang-Makati, Alabang-Ortigas, Alabang-BGC, Antipolo-Ortigas CBD, Antipolo-Makati CBD, Cainta-Makati, Imus-Makati, Noveleta-Makati, Sangley Airport/ Cavite City-NAIA, Makati-Bacoor, Makati-Dasmarinas, Alabang-Bacoor, Alabang-Dasmariñas, Taguig-Makati, Taguig-Ortigas, Malolos-North EDSA, Sta. Maria/Bocaue-North EDSA, Balagtas (Bulacan)-North EDSA, Pandi (Bulacan)-North EDSA, Plaridel (Bulacan)-North EDSA, Sta. Rosa, (Laguna)-Makati City, Calamba (Laguna)- Makati, Calamba-BGC/ Fort Bonifacio and Calamba-Lawton.

Meanwhile, four additional city bus routes, part of the 31 rationalized bus routes in Metro Manila, were opened by the DOTr yesterday.?These are Monumento-Valenzuela Gateway Complex, Gilmore-Taytay, Buendia-BGC and Monumento-San Jose del Monte.

The DOTr said the LTFRB would continue to add and open new bus routes to accommodate the large volume of commuters expected during the transition to the new normal.

The Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX), the country’s first landport, also reopened yesterday after the facility suspended operations last March 17.

PITX will gradually resume transport operations by serving as starting and end points of routes identified by the DOTr and LTFRB.

Earlier, the DOTr and the LTFRB opened the Angat-Quezon Avenue and the Dasmariñas-PITX bus routes, but the absence of jeepneys at the end of these routes made the move futile.

The two transportation bodies stood firm on their decision to prohibit passenger jeepneys to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, despite a poll indicating that a majority of Filipino families view the restriction as burdensome.

In a bid to convince the government to allow jeepneys to again ferry passengers, several drivers in Metro Manila demonstrated yesterday how health protocols can be implemented in jeepneys.

A group of jeepney drivers in Pasay City shelled out more than P10,000 to modify their old-model units to build makeshift dividers with wood and plastic covers in the passenger compartment. Richmond Mercurio, Cecille Suerte Felipe