ABOUT 500 more modernized jeepneys will arrive in Bacolod City either before the month ends or in October.

Councilor Al Victor Espino said that Bacolod needs at least 1,200 modernized jeepneys in case the old ones will no longer be allowed in the streets.

Espino, who is the chairman of the Sangguniang Panlungsod Committee on Transportation and Traffic, said the jeepney modernization program is divided into three phases.

Under the first phase, 20 percent of the projected total number of modernized jeepneys needed in an area will be allowed to operate, he said.

During the second phase, 50 percent of the projected total number of modernized jeepneys in an area should already be plying on the streets, he said.

“On its third phase, 70 percent of the projected total number of modernized jeepneys must already be operational,” Espino stressed.

Earlier in September, five fleets of modernized coasters being utilized as the new jeepneys are now plying the main streets of Bacolod City aiming to heed the modernization program of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).

The 45 modern jeepneys, with 22 sitting and eight standing capacities, are operated by the BMJ and Uy Transport Services Inc. and are currently plying the routes of Bata-Libertad and Alijis Central-Market.

The operators were granted 80 units for the Alijis-Central Market and 98 for the Bata-Libertad routes.

The operation of modernized jeepneys in Bacolod has resulted in a misunderstanding between its drivers and the traditional ones.

Bacolod Traffic Authority head Major Junji Liba said that so far, his office has not received any complaints from drivers of the modernized jeepneys that they are being harassed by the drivers of the traditional ones when they pick up passengers.

“The only issue we have right now is that there are traffic enforcers complaining that the modernized jeepneys pick up or offload passengers in non-designated areas,” he said.

Liba noted that 30 additional modernized jeepneys are also now plying the route of Mandalagan-Libertad.