The government will score a momentous victory if it succeeds in removing old jeepneys from the roads of Metro Manila.
The city’s loud and colorful jeepneys have become iconic and one of the popular transportation modes. They are one of the most recognizable features in the metropolis and foreign tourists will readily associate the Philippines with the public transportation mode.
The jeepneys, however, have also become a symbol of traffic chaos, with many rude and undisciplined drivers contributing to road accidents. They are an eyesore, they are undependable and beat-up, and they pose risks to the riding public.
The government, in a bid to upgrade the jeepneys and professionalize the industry, will start phasing out old units next month in line with its program to modernize public utility vehicles. Owners and operators are given a transition period of three years beginning January 2018 to purchase new units.
All PUVs that are over 15 years old under the program will be phased out and replaced with new models equipped with automated fare collection systems, digital security and dashboard cameras, Wi-Fi
Internet connectivity, GPS tracking devices and speed limiters. The government is spending P843 million next year to jump-start the nationwide implementation of the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization program.
A P2.5-billion special financing plan from two state-run banks, meanwhile, will extend low-cost loans to enable PUV operators and drivers to acquire newly designed passenger buses, vans and jeepneys.
The new PUVs will run either on Euro 4-compliant diesel engines that discharge 68 percent less particulate matter, 57 percent less nitrogenoxides and 50 percent less carbon monoxide, or on electric batteries
that have zero exhaust gas emissions.
A critical feature of the modernization program is reforming the franchising system to strengthen control over PUVs. Fewer new franchises will be issued to PUV operators and drivers, and they will be compelled to organize themselves into cooperatives or firms to build up accountability, enforcement and compliance. Each operator must have a minimum of 10 units to obtain a single franchise. Drivers running their own units will have to consolidate themselves into groups of at least 10 members to get a franchise.
Jeepneys have done their role as one of Metro Manila’s public transportation modes. But their operators should face up to the demands of a modern metropolis if they want to remain relevant.