Sen. Grace Poe. INQUIRER file photo / LYN RILLON
The Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) should create a fare matrix for buses that use the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX) to encourage more passengers to use the terminal, Senator Grace Poe said Tuesday.
Poe noted that fewer passengers use the PITX as expected because they pay the same fare for a shorter trip.
“As opposed to having 100,000 passengers there a day, (PITX) only has 2,000 now. Hindi ginagamit. They bypass it. Hindi na nga sila dumadaan doon. So, ang sabi ko sa LTFRB, bakit hindi kayo gumawa ng fare matrix?” Poe said over the ABS-CBN News Channel.
“Natural, magrereklamo ang ating mga pasahero kasi pareho pa rin ang bayad nila pero ang baba nila doon na lang sa PITX. So, adjust the fare matrix that it’s cheaper because they have a fare to pay for the connecting ride,” she added.
The PITX, the senator pointed out, was supposed to cut the number of buses on Edsa by at least 3,000 because provincial buses would only reach PITX from where passengers could transfer to other modes of transportation to go to Edsa.
However, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) exempted 300 buses and allowed these to use Edsa which prompted other provincial buses to bypass the PITX, Poe said.
Other bus drivers see the situation as “unfair,” she said.
“Bakit sila may exemption na pumasok sa Edsa, kami wala?’” Poe added, citing drivers’ complaints.
“So ang ginagawa nila, they ignore the authorities. They go straight. Colorum na bigla sila,” she added.
This has also prompted passengers not to utilize the terminal because, aside from the fares, it is difficult to transfer rides there.
“You have the plight of the passengers that are saying, ‘Ang hirap-hirap kasi pagbaba namin dyan, kulang yung mga nakaabang na sasakyan.’ Bakit? Kasi nga may pinapayagan na 300 na makalusot. So nalulugi ngayon,” the senator said.
The senator is set to hold a probe this Tuesday on the rules of the DOTr and the LTFRB on which provincial buses should have routes at the PITX. /cbb