THE volume of inbound and outbound passengers is gradually increasing as the City Government's Integrated Bus Terminal (IBT) resumed 24/7 operations with the de-escalation of Zamboanga City’s quarantine status to Alert Level 1 from March 1 to 15, 2022.
The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has placed the city under Alert Level 1 effective March 1 to 15, as the cases of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) continue to decrease.
Rafael Derick Evangelista, IBT supervising officer, said Tuesday, March 8, that the volume of inbound passengers has increased to 1,000, while the outbound has risen to 1,100 daily from a little over 500 travelers previously for both arrival and departure.
"The number of passengers has increased since we resume 24-hour, seven days a week operation effective Saturday," Evangelista said.
Evangelista said that they normally serve to some 2,500 to 3,000 outbound passengers daily on a regular day, and up to 10,000 a day during Christmas season and election period before the Covid-19 pandemic.
But Evangelista said the IBT was only serving to less than 100 outbound with similar number of inbound passengers during the health pandemic.
Evangelista said they cater to a total of 56 inbound and outbound trips daily in eight routes.
These are the following: Zamboanga-Dipolog, 20; Zamboanga-Pagadian, 25; Zamboanga-Cagayan de Oro, six; Zamboanga-Sirawai, one; Zamboanga-Olutanga, one; Zamboanga-Cebu, one; and Zamboanga-Bacolod via Dumaguete, two.
Evangelista reminded the travelers, especially outbound, to always bring their vaccination card.
The local IATF requires inbound travelers coming from areas with higher alert level status to present negative Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test result upon entry to Zamboanga City. (SunStar Zamboanga)