LTFRB contract project starts Nov. 6

The Land Transportation and Franchising Board (LTFRB) will officially launch today, Nov. 6, the first three routes for operators of buses and modern and traditional jeepneys hired under the pilot service contracting program.

More routes, including in nearby provinces, would be opened in the coming weeks, it added.

In a virtual briefing on Wednesday, LTFRB-National Capital Region director Zona Tamayo said the service contracting program would be one of the government’s two modes of financial assistance to critically impacted public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers.

“We also call this a performance-based subsidy, where drivers included in the program have to meet specific performance indicators to improve the quality of transport service and for them to receive the subsidy,” Tamayo added.

Among the performance indicators would be the number of kilometers operated, regularity and punctuality of services, quality of driver and vehicle, security of passenger and staff, and customer satisfaction.

The LTFRB said around 60,000 PUV drivers whose livelihood had been affected by quarantine restrictions would benefit from the government’s P5.58-billion service contracting program.

LTFRB chair Martin Delgra earlier said that PUV drivers could earn as much as P1,000 per day through the weekly performance-based subsidy.

On Wednesday, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade also said the government would push through with the PUV modernization program, which sought to abolish the traditional “boundary system” in PUVs, despite the changes caused by the pandemic.