DAVAO CITY, Philippines — With the implementation of the Davao integrated bus system, this city will soon say goodbye to jeepneys.
Dionisio Abude, city transport and traffic management office chief, said jeepneys plying the Catalunan Grande-Roxas Avenue and C.P. Garcia Highway-Sasa routes would be initially affected.
Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio has been pushing for the phaseout of jeepneys as she rejected the jeepney modernization program.
“It’s... unfair... to require (jeepney drivers) to comply with the jeep modernization and then six months later to tell them to sell their jeepneys... for scrap,” Carpio said.
Consultations on the affected routes and feasibility studies, including the budget for bus lanes and waiting sheds, are ongoing.
Livelihood assistance for more than 440 jeepney operators and drivers to be affected by the bus system is also being worked out.
The bus system is the initial stage of the planned high priority bus system in this city, which was crafted by the Asian Development Bank.
It aims to modernize the transport system and solve traffic congestion.