75K passengers at DCott for Yuletide season

An official from the Davao City Overland Transport Terminal (DCott) revealed that they are catering to approximately 1,500 bus trips or around 75,000 passengers a day during the Holiday season. 

Aisa Usop, DCOTT manager, said in a radio interview on Thursday morning, December 28, that unlike in the 2022 Holidays, the number of people who flock to the terminal has increased that even on Christmas Day there were still people traveling. 

She added that travelers have been flocking to DCOTT since December 22 and she expects that the number of people who will queue at the terminal will increase as New Year’s celebration approaches.

Usop stressed that she and her team are preparing for the influx of passengers expecting that it will last even after New Year’s Day. 

“We are expecting na basig didtoa na pod to mag New Year sa ilang provinces. Now after New Year manguli na pod na sila mga (January) one, two, three ing-ana (We are expecting that the travelers will also spend their New Year in their respective provinces. Now after New Year they will return here on (Jan.) one, two, three like that),” Usop said.

The influx of passengers has already caused the management to open the gates for employees to senior citizens, persons with disabilities (PWD), pregnant, and parents with children travelers. Usop, however, said that the gates for employees would not be opened unless there was a security personnel assigned.

Despite the huge influx of passengers, she said that there were no reports of pick-pocketing or other petty crimes happening inside the terminal.

To bolster the security measures Usop revealed that they upgraded the CCTV cameras in the terminal. The 22 old CCTVs are now 32 brand new ones which were installed during the Christmas season and these CCTVs are connected to the Public Safety and Security Office (PSSO) monitors. RGP