THE Peak Hours Augmentation Bus Service (Phabs) will now be catering to new routes after the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB)-Davao Region granted special permits Wednesday, November 20, 2019.
LTFRB-Davao Region posted on its Facebook page the Memorandum Circular No. 2019-062 or the Opening of Applications for the Grant of Special Permits for routes Calinan, Cabantian, and Lasang (via Sasa).
According to the memorandum circular, the granting of additional routes was approved after receiving a letter from Davao City administrator Zuleika Lopez, dated September 3, requesting six more buses per each route to be deployed in these areas.
LTFRB also said that City Transport and Traffic Management Office (CTTMO) head Dionisio Abude requested the additional routes "pursuant to the public clamor for transportation services during peak hours, and recommended to utilize regular buses or those bus units used for provincial operations, apart from the low-floor and low-entry or city-type buses.”
The agency said the new Phabs buses will operate from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., and 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The Calinan route will be traversing from Grand Mall Calinan to San Pedro Cathedral, while the Cabantian route will be from NCCC Cabantian to Sta. Ana Avenue, and Lasang route will be from Lasang Overpass to Tionko Street (infront of the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas or Central Bank).
LTFRB said a "one-way-limited-stops scheme" will be implemented, as recommended by CTTMO.
The issued order states that bus trips can only load and unload passengers at designated bus stops. However, for Mintal route on the morning route, buses are not allowed to unload passengers at the immediate next stop to primarily cater the passenger going to the downtown and also to the Cabantian route (morning route).
LTFRB said bus fare will start at P10 with a minimum distance of five kilometers. An additional P2.20 will be added for succeeding kilometers.
The agency said the order will be effective until a revocation order will be issued.
The order will take once published in a newspaper.
Phabs was implemented in February, wherein initial routes were deployed in Toril and Catalunan Grande. In 2020, the City Government targets to implement the first phase of the High Priority Bus System (HPBS) in these routes.