BOTH traditional and modernized jeepneys in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental cannot implement the fare hike yet Monday, October 3, 2022.
This is because the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) came out with a memorandum last week urging operators and drivers to secure original copies of the fare matrix, Diego Malacad, Secretary General of United Negros Drivers and Operators Center, said.
“(The fare matrix) should be posted on their respective units or vehicles in order (for them) to implement the fare rate increase,” Malacad said, adding that the matrix costs P720 per copy.
He said the driver or operator would need to go to the regional office of LTFRB in Iloilo to get the matrix or wait for the LTFRB to come here in Bacolod City to bring it instead.
Malacad also said that they were no longer allowed to download the tariff matrix from the agency’s website and post its printed version on their vehicles.
“The implementation of fare hike for the succeeding kilometers is confusing so without the matrix it would be very hard for the drivers to explain it to their passengers,” the transport group leader lamented.
Based on the LTFRB decision, the traditional jeepney will have a new minimum fare of P12 that will cover the first four kilometers and P1.80 for every succeeding kilometer. On the other hand, modern jeepneys will have a new minimum fare of P14 for the first four kilometers and P2.20 for every succeeding kilometer.
For all provincial buses, the new minimum fare will be P11. The succeeding kilometer for ordinary provincial buses will be at P1.90. for de luxe provincial buses is P2.10 for every succeeding kilometer.
Malacad said on the part of modernized PUVs they also cannot implement the fare hike without the matrix, much more that inside their vehicle everything is digital.