Thursday, December 04, 2008 Fares for jeeps, cabs rolled back
COMMUTERS will finally get the provisional fare rollback they have been clamoring for, at least for the next three months.
Yesterday, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Chairman Thompson Lantion ordered the reduction of fares for taxis and jeepneys after a public hearing attended by representatives from various transport groups in Manila.
Starting Dec. 15, the minimum jeepney fare in Cebu will be P7 for the first five kilometers. Taxis, on the other hand, are no longer allowed to collect the P10 add-on fare.
A hearing on Feb. 18, 2009 has been set to discuss whether the current rates should be restored or scrapped.
LTFRB 7 Director Romulo Bernardes said that while the effectivity of the fare reduction is on Dec. 15 yet, transport leaders in Cebu will implement it immediately.
Bernardes also said that the LTFRB 7 will not issue a tariff matrix. Instead, it will issue a notice, for free, which must be posted on jeepneys and taxi units, to inform the commuters about the fare reductions.
Bernardes said that the groups that will implement the reduced fares immediately are Cebu Integrated Transport Service Cooperative (Citrasco) , Visayan United Drivers of Transport Service Cooperative (Vudtrasco) and the Alyansa sa mga Nagkahiusang Drivers Alang sa Reporma (Andar).
The Nagkahisaung Drivers sa Sugbo (Nadsu) has been against fare reduction, saying that despite the rapid rollbacks of fuel prices, unit rentals (boundary) are still high, and the prices of tires and spare parts remain high as well.
On the other hand, Richard Cabucos, chairman of Metro Cebu Taxi Operators Association (MCTOA), said they will only remove the P10 add-on fare once they receive a hard copy of the decision.
Cabucos said they will abide by the LTFRB decision even if they still need to recover the losses incurred in the past months.
“Too small and too late,” commented lawyer Manuel Iway who filed the petition for fare reduction.
Iway was dismayed on the P1 rollback on fare, saying it is unfair to the commuters and advantageous to the drivers and operators. This, he added, was aggravated by the fact that LTFRB did not decide immediately.
“The rollback must be P2. The LTFRB must restore the P6 minimum fare because while the increase was made from P6 to P8, the price of diesel was P46 per liter, and it’s now P36 per liter,” he said.
Iway also said that the LTFRB must not only remove the P10 add-on fare on taxi but also reduce the flagdown rate from P30 to P25 because at the present LPG price of P23 per liter, P30 is too much.
Iway also said that he cannot understand why the MCTOA still insists on collecting the P10 add-on when they promised last month to voluntarily stop collecting it if the LPG price goes below P30 per liter. At present, LPG is P23 per liter. (EOB/With a report from Sunnex)
