THE Mandaue City Government has formulated a route plan for traditional jeepneys as a proposal to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).
This will still be subject to the approval of LTFRB in case they will allow traditional jeepneys to travel.
Atty. John Eddu Ibañez, the executive secretary of Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes, said that through the City Planning and Development Office, the city conducted a study and formulate a route plan for the traditional jeepney to ply within Mandaue City.
The data contains the loop routes of the jeepneys and the number of traditional jeepneys that will ply on each route.
The city saw this as a better proposal to the LTFRB than to send only a letter of appeal, said Ibañez.
He added that with the proposal, the LTFRB will no longer formulate a route plan for Mandaue yet, they will only need to approve the proposal.
According to Ibañez that the routes of the traditional jeepneys will not be the same as before however, he assures that the routes will pass through the main roads and areas with a high volume of passengers.
As the route plan is still subject to LTFRB's approval, Ibañez said that there is a possibility that not all traditional jeepney drivers can travel as LTFRB has their own checklist of requirements for the franchisee.
Ronilo Gahator, the vice president of Pinagkaisang Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator’s Nationwide (Piston), told SunStar Cebu that for six months they do not have a source of income and they will not be picky as long as they could ply again and make a living.
He just hoped that the city will not let them ply along the interior areas considering the number of passengers and he does not want to compete with the tricycles who ply along interior roads as it could lead to a fight between drivers.
Meanwhile, the City Government requested a commitment from the bus providers to increase the number of buses plying within Mandaue City especially during peak hours.(KFD)