Utility Vehicle (UV) Express units and traditional jeepneys will be allowed to ply routes in Metro Manila starting next week, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) chairman Martin Delgra said on Wednesday.
This was after Malacañang said Wednesday UV Express vans have a higher chance of resuming operations compared to the traditional public utility jeepneys or PUJs.
READ: Groups slam jeepney phaseout, Palace says options up for some
During the virtual meeting of the House Committee on Metro Manila Development on Wednesday, lawmakers pressed Delgra and the LTFRB to give an exact date when traditional jeepneys and UV Express units may return to the streets.
They are still banned from operating in the National Capital Region owing to the coronavirus lockdown.
“Next week for both UV and traditional jeepneys,” Delgra told the lawmakers, without providing an exact date. “For Monday [June 29] some UV routes [will be opened], and then followed by the traditional jeepneys.”
He said the LTFRB was following a hierarchy in gradually allowing different modes of public transportation to operate, after the government suspended their operations following the declaration of an enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila.
“As to hierarchy, what we’re saying is we have preference for PUVs with bigger capacities that can take passengers from point A to point B,” Delgra said.
READ: Government eyes jeep phaseout
As of Monday, operations of the two Metro Manila train lines (MRT and LRT), city buses, and modern jeepneys have been allowed.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said unlike the PUJs, which have seats that make passengers face one another, UV Express vans let passengers face one direction, which minimizes the risk of COVID-19 infections.
But he says both the UV Express vans and the PUJs will be tapped if the current modes of public transportation are not enough to send commuters to their destinations.
“It’s the convenience of the riding public that is being considered. But I think the UV Express vans stand a better chance [of being allowed] than jeepneys,” Roque told ABS-CBN’s Headstart.
But he noted the LTFRB should have a decision on PUJs “within the month.”
Earlier, Roque said the PUJs may no longer be allowed to resume operations if other modes of public transport would be enough to service commuters.
He says UV Express vans and PUJs are at the bottom of the transport hierarchy, which means they can service fewer passengers and they will only be allowed once the existing transport modes continue to be insufficient.
Meanwhile, Roque also denied that the decision of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases or IATF-EID to limit vehicles on the roads is anti-poor since it favors those who own private cars.
“The priority of the IATF is still upholding public health. And that is why as far as public transportation is concerned, it’s not just cars that are being given priority,” Roque said.
READ: New round of aid eyed for PUJs
Also allowed are the railway systems, buses, taxis, transport network vehicle services, shuttle services, point-to-point buses and bicycles.
“It’s not true that the favored mode of transportation is private because we all know that the majority of people still don’t have access to private transportation. So I don’t think that is the case,” he said.
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) earlier announced that there would be two phases to be executed in the resumption of public transportation in Metro Manila as it transitions into general community quarantine on Monday.
Under Phase 1, covering June 1 to 21, trains and bus augmentation, taxis, TNVS (transport network vehicle services), shuttle services, point-to-point buses, and bicycles will be allowed to operate with a limited passenger capacity.
Tricycles will also be allowed, subject to the prior approval of the concerned local government units.
Provincial buses will be barred from entering Metro Manila during the June 1 to 21 period.
In Phase 2, covering June 22 to 30, public utility buses, modern PUVs or jeepneys, and UV Express will be allowed to operate, also with limited passenger capacity.
