Gov’t to modernize road public transport

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) plans to modernize public road transport to convince car owners to use public utility vehicles (PUVs) in order to reduce traffic.

Innovations are being introduced to make modern PUVs convenient and efficient, such as cashless payment option already used in highly urbanized cities abroad.

Transportation Secretary Jaime J. Bautista said, “A travel innovation we are developing is an automated fare collection system for buses, trains, jeepneys, even taxis.”

“Ongoing negotiations with various financial institutions for the inter-modal use of debit cards and other non-cash payments schemes would keep us in step with modern public transport systems in highly urbanized metropolis abroad,” he added.

Bautista said a transport cooperative in Central Luzon last year became the first to use the automated fare collection for their fleet of modern PUVs.

The transport chief said the EDSA Busway (or EDSA Carousel) has proven to be the most efficient road transport yet. It was conceptualized and established during the pandemic.

“An unsolicited proposal to privatize the operations of the EDSA Busway is being reviewed by the Public-Private Partnership Center before we consider the proposal,” Bautista said.

He said the concept of the busway is being replicated in Metro Cebu and Metro Davao. They are called bus rapid transit or BRT.

The Cebu BRT spans 13.18 kilometers throughout the Cebu metropolis, with 17 stations. It will provide enhanced mobility using dedicated public buses for the already congested roads of Cebu.

Meanwhile, the Davao Transport Modernization Project involves establishing more than 600 kilometers of road networks to be used by more than a thousand public buses, including 300 electric vehicles.

“Later this year, we will begin constructing the EDSA Greenways after completing the preparatory work,” Bautista said.

The EDSA Greenways is an elevated pedestrian walkway parallel to five stations of MRT Line 3 along Metro Manila’s main highway.

“We are also tinkering with the idea of expanding the bike lanes along EDSA to be shared by the more than 170,000 motorcycles that use the highway every day.” Bautista said.

According to Bautista, creating protected bike lanes along main roads within and outside Metro Manila need the support of local governments.

“We have built and expanded the bike lanes in San Fernando-Pampanga, Kalibo, Lipa, Quezon City and Laoag,” he said, adding the bike lanes in Intramuros have become a hit among foreign tourists who get to see first-hand Manila’s historical landmarks while riding bikes.

Bautista said the government is pushing for more electric public utility vehicles among transport groups.

“Success stories are beginning to sprout on electric jeepneys and buses in the provinces, hopefully enticing others to go electric,” he said.

“Last February, transport groups in Laguindingan and General Santos City in Mindanao proudly showed us their modernized PUVs including electric jeepneys that are pleasantly patronized by local commuters,” Bautista added.

Bautista added that the country’s Public Transport Modernization Program is now proceeding with the second component – Route Rationalization.

“Local governments are helping us match the consolidated transport groups with appropriate local routes, balancing the PUV fleet with the number of passengers,” he said.

According to Bautista, the whole process of modernizing public transport will take a minimum of three years.