Requiem for the ‘king of the road’

Replacing up to 250,000 commuter jeepneys, iconic for their evolved design as a public transport mode on city and provincial roads all over the country, has been one big losing fight for past administrations, but one that is, finally, being won by the current Duterte government.

In June last year, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) unveiled its Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) with the objective of phasing out undesirable public utility vehicles (PUVs) by 2020.

The program will streamline and organize the public transportation system’s four- to six-wheeled PUVs to make them safer, more efficient, and eco-friendly. Not included are tricycles and taxis, and there is no mention of ride-sharing vehicles like Grab.

Main points in the program include a phase-out of vehicles more than 15 years old, streamlining of PUV designs into four categories, upgrade of all PUV engines to Euro-4 standard, reorganization of routes, and redefining the current franchise system.

Need for change

For today’s column, let’s focus on the jeepney, long regarded as the country’s king of the road because of their attention-grabbing looks, as well as road-hogging presence largely due to errant driving habits of those at the wheel.

Much has been said and written about the need to upgrade the country’s jeepneys, which have provided a source of livelihood for many Filipino families over the decades.

Jeepneys, however, are also generally unsafe and environmentally unfriendly rides for millions of Filipinos. They are poorly maintained, structurally risky, and with second-hand engines that need to be retired for all the smog that it releases into the air.

While critics of the government’s PUVMP offered the alternative of overhauling existing jeepneys to make them safe and reliable, and mainly to preserve the source of income of its drivers, the government opted for a total phase-out where jeepney drivers will be absorbed in the new system.

Jeepney drivers, majority of whom have not even completed secondary schooling, had initially taken – and still could take – to the streets. But this is a losing battle that has been waged too long. As most of the affected drivers realize, even if they voted the incumbent, change is coming, and change is inevitable.

CARS’ third slot

Notwithstanding the cost of displaced jobs of jeepney drivers who will likely not be included in the modernization scheme, replacing jeepneys under the government’s PUVMP would need at least P220 billion.

Truck manufacturers, many of them foreign affiliates of global companies like Isuzu, Fuso, Hino, Hyundai, Mahindra, and Tata, have been accredited under the PUVMP. Local companies include Centro, Santa Rosa, and Almazora.

Initial fund mobilization for the jeepneys’ replacement will come from the allocated P9 billion in tax subsidies for a third participant in the Department of Trade and Industry’s Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) Program.

Since only two participants to the CARS program have enrolled, the third slot was scrapped, and the Board of Investments transferred the tax incentives to accredited local assemblers under the PUVMP.

The BOI estimates that about 200,000 units of replacement PUVs will be built over the next six years to replace traditional jeepneys. Under the CARS program, the first two participants – Toyota and Mitsubishi – are committed to manufacture 200,000 units of high local content cars over a six-year period to each avail of the P9 billion tax incentive.

A good start

This has helped speed up the assembly of the new PUVs, with the first prototype vehicles formally unveiled to the public during the first Philippine Auto Parts Expo (PhilAPEX) held late last year.

Local companies like Centro Manufacturing Corp. and Santa Rosa were able to come up with vehicle configurations using power trains and platforms of known truck brands, albeit foreign ones, like Japan’s Isuzu and Fuso/Mitsubishi, and China’s Foton.

The DTI and BOI’s support for the PUVMP is a brilliant way to encourage the growth of local foundries, which may not be as technologically savvy as that of Toyota and Mitsubishi in producing the Vios or Mirage, respectively, under the CARS program. But it’s a good start.

One route, one franchise

Last month, the first deliveries of replacement PUVs were turned over by the DOTr to newly formed cooperatives or corporations that were granted franchise licenses under the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board’s new “one route, one franchise” policy.

The vehicles of the LTFRB-registered cooperatives and corporations are expected to replace jeepneys that will no longer be allowed to renew their franchise permits. Jeepney drivers and operators, therefore, are encouraged to form cooperatives or corporations.

Since only one franchise holder will be allowed to ply a particular route, existing jeepneys will find their vehicles systematically edged out of roads. Local governments are now reviewing existing routes, with the end-view of improving and systematizing them.

Learning curve and hand-holding

These moves will likely induce some chaos on the streets, as pockets of jeepney drivers most probably will continue to fight for status quo. In the end, however, the jeepneys’ demise will put newer, safer, more efficient, and eco-friendly public utility vehicles to serve the commuting public.

There are concerns about the viability of cooperatives managing the newly delivered PUVs that carry a price tag of more than P1 million each. This could be one hell of a learning curve, where a successful business model may turn out to be radically different from the original plan.

This will need a lot of watching and hand-holding if the PUVMP is to succeed.

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