LAND Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) 7 Director Eduardo Montealto Jr. said some operators who are still deploying their traditional public utility jeepney (TPUJ) fleets are waiting for the delivery of their modern jeepney units.
He said this as the provisional authority issued to TPUJ operators will end on March 31, 2022 to give way to the modernization of jeepneys.
Montealto told SunStar Cebu on Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021, that the March 31 deadline is already the third extension.
“Hopefully, it won’t get extended so we can continue with the replacing of the traditional jeepneys with modernized ones,” he said.
Montealto was unable to give the number of the traditional jeepney operators who he said have formed cooperatives, one of the requirements in operating modernized jeepneys.
He said the operators who are currently using their traditional jeepney fleets are the same operators who are just waiting for their modern jeepney units.
“We are just waiting for our accredited scraper or junk shops for our old traditional jeepneys. There are already six junk shops in Metro Cebu that applied. After they are granted accreditation, they can now buy the ‘dropped’ old jeepneys that were already replaced by the modern ones and it will be scrapped so they would not be used again,” he said.
Montealto said the scraper and junk shops will buy the old jeepneys that will be discarded.
The LTFRB 7 also urged the local government units (LGUs) to focus on the local public transport route plan (LPTRP).
Montealto said the LTFRB central office already trained personnel of LGUs nationwide for two weeks on how to come up with the LPTRP. But the crafting of the LPTRP in some LGUs got derailed when they got new local chief executives after the 2019 elections.
To address this matter, Montealto said the LTFRB 7 conducted refresher seminars to planning officers to help them come up with the LPTRP.
“Cebu Province is very active on this as well as the tri-cities and Talisay,” Montealto said.
He said they are encouraging the LGUs to follow Tacloban City in Leyte, which came up with its LPTRP in four days.
“It’s really easy to make. But, of course, there’s really a lack of personnel resources. We are also doing virtual meetings to follow up on the progress,” he said.
Currently, only Mandaue City in Central Visayas has an approved LPTRP, while 30 other LGUs have already submitted their plans.