“No ticket, no entry” policy remains: CSBT braces for peak hours

CEBU, Philippines — In anticipation of the influx of homebound passengers for the Christmas season, the management of Cebu South Bus Terminal has removed all the tenants at the passenger waiting area to accommodate more passengers.

CSBT manager Carmen Quijano said the stalls they rented out to tenants inside the air-conditioned passenger lounge had been transferred at the back since December 17.

Quijano said they now have bigger waiting area that can accommodate 1,500 passengers at one time. There is also an extension area at the back that can accommodate 200 passengers.

“Ang tanang existing chairs at the back gikuha na nato, gisulod  na nato sa passenger waiting area so there is no reason nga ang mga pasahero moreklamo,” Quijano said. (We have removed all existing chairs at the back and bring in to the passenger waiting area so there is no more reason for the passengers to complain)

Quijano said that a passenger is expected to stay at the waiting lounge 15 to 20 minutes before he or she can board the bus.

No ticket, no entry policy

Quijano, however, said the “no ticket, no entry” policy, which they started to implement last November, will still be in effect.

All passengers will be required to buy a ticket at the entrance where temporary ticketing booths are set up by the bus companies. Quijano said there will signage for various routes to guide passengers where to buy their tickets.

Quijano said the terminal management may suspend the policy depending on the situation. She said if the volume of passengers calls for the suspension of the “no ticket, no entry” policy, they have also prepared a contingency plan.

According to Quijano, when the policy is suspended, a pass will be issued to allow the passenger to get inside the waiting lounge and tickets will be issued inside the bus.

She said they have also made arrangement with the Land Transportation Office (LTO)-7 to use the Malasakit Lounge if the terminal waiting area could no longer accommodate the volume of passengers.

Quijano, however, believes that the volume of passengers will not be that big compared to previous holidays considering that most of the schools were already on Christmas break since last week.

The terminal started implementing the “no ticket, no entry” policy on October 29, 2019 as a security measure to ensure the safety and convenience of the passengers.

It was no less than Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia who ordered implementing the policy to keep the terminal free from loitering bystanders.

The governor’s decision was prompted by a complaint from a university professor from Zamboanga that his bag got missing inside the terminal. Garcia said incidents like this gave a bad image to the terminal and the provincial government. The CSBT is one of the economic enterprises of the Capitol.

The policy, however, was met with criticisms by some of the passengers who felt they were inconvenienced by it. /FPL (FREEMAN)