Friday, October 12, 2007 PUJ, bus fares in Cebu to go up
EVEN if the Cebu jeepney and bus operators and drivers will not file a petition for fare increase, the rate will be raised once the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) will decide in favor of the petition in Manila.
However, LTFRB 7 Acting Director Rey Elnar is sure that Cebu fares will always be lower than those in Metro Manila where the cost of living is higher and the traffic problem is worse.
Bus operators in Luzon agreed during a summit last Wednesday to seek a minimum fare of P9 for the first four kilometers.
The public utility jeepney operators, meanwhile, want an additional P1.50 in the P6 minimum fare.
Lawyer Vigor Mendoza of the United Transport Alliance Coalition said the petition for higher fares is because of the round of increases in the fuel prices.
They threatened to hold a “transport holiday” or go on strike until LTFRB will grant their demands.
The transport summit in Metro Manila was attended by the Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines (Fejodap), Alliance of Transport Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines (Atodap), Makati Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association, Alliance of Concerned Transport Organization (Acto), Pinagisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators Nationwide and Pasang Masda.
Although LTFRB Chairman Thompson Lantion did not promise that the petition will be decided this year, the board will immediately study it.
Elnar said that while the official bus rate at present is P8.50 for the first five kilometers and P1.30 per succeeding kilometer, bus operators collect only P6 for the first five kilometers and P1 per succeeding kilometer.
This is the reason nobody from the Cebu Provincial Bus Operators Association (CPBOA) or from the Cebu Mini-Bus Operators Association filed any petition, Elnar said.
In Cebu, the last jeepney fare hike was in 2005 when LTFRB adjusted the minimum rate from P5 to P6 for the first four kilometers.
But the distance was adjusted from the “first four kilometers” to “first five kilometers” because of complaints from the riding public.
Elnar said that no jeepney groups in Cebu filed a petition for fare increase.
The Cebu transport groups include Cebu Intergrated Transport Cooperative (Citrasco) with more than 800 jeepney units and Visayas United Drivers Transport Cooperative (Vudtrasco) with more than 700 units.
Citrasco and Vudtrasco have a combined 3,000 driver-members, including regulars and “extras”.
The other groups are the Alyansa sa Nagkahiusang Drivers Alang sa Reporma (Andar), Nagkahisaung Drivers sa Sugbo (Nadsu) and the Mandaue Operators and Drivers Association (Moda). (EOB)
