COMMUTERS in Consolacion and Liloan, as well as in Cebu City, can expect more comfortable rides after 15 modern public utility jeepneys (PUJ) were launched in the adjacent towns last week.
This comes less than two weeks after 26 modern PUJs were launched in the neighboring city of Lapu-Lapu.
Consolacion Transport Corp. launched 10 modern PUJs under the PUV Modernization Program (PUVMP) at JM Compound, Mandaue City last Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board Central Visayas (LTFRB 7) announced.
The new PUJs will ply the Consolacion and Cebu City route.
Members and officials of Consolacion Transport Corp. led by their chairman, Rosaulo Danuco, expressed their gratitude to the government agencies and private institutions that helped their transport cooperative acquire their new vehicles under the PUVMP.
On the same day, five modern PUJs were launched by the Liloan Operators Multi-purpose Cooperative or Lodtramco at the new Liloan Public Market, the LTFRB 7 said.
These units will ply the Liloan-Cebu City route.
Last Nov. 18, the Cebu Mepza Liloan Drivers and Operators Cooperative also launched 26 modern PUJs in Lapu-Lapu City for the benefit of commuters in Lapu-Lapu City, Consolacion and Liloan.
The PUVMP, a flagship program of the Duterte administration, aims to provide a modern, environment-friendly, comfortable and safe public transport system in the country.
It began in mid-2017 with the aim of phasing out traditional jeepneys, buses and other public utility vehicles at least 15 years old and replacing them with more comfortable and environment-friendly vehicles in three years.
But the coronavirus pandemic got in the way, extending the run of many traditional jeepneys.
The program encourages small transport industry players to merge and form either cooperatives or corporations. It devolves route planning to local government units.
To help transport operators fund the acquisition of the bigger and more modern replacement vehicles, estimated to cost at least P1.4 million each, a government subsidy and loan program has been included in the program.