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MANILA, Philippines — Amid travel difficulties during the holiday season, an official from the Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Friday attributed increased traffic in Metro Manila to “revenge” Christmas parties and reunions.
DOTr undersecretary Timothy John Batan made the remark when asked if commuters were finding it difficult to book a ride because of airport-dedicated Grab units possibly taking away the travelers’ chances. He insisted that the demand is everywhere.
“We know that there’s so much increased travel now. It’s the time of revenge Christmas parties, revenge reunions, kaya we have increased demand in the airport, we have increased demand throughout the Metro so I’m not sure we can specifically point to that as the reason for the difficulty to hail rides,” explained Batan on ANC.
READ: Metro transport woes worsen as Christmas nears
To improve land transportations services in the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), the DOTr and Grab Philippines have previously partnered to dedicate at least 200 Grab car units for arriving passengers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). This is part of MIAA’s “Airport to Anywhere” pilot program, according to the transport agency’s Facebook post.
Batan said that Grab drivers are also incentivized since they are still private vehicles who only use the ride-hailing company’s system.
Travel in Metro Manila has even prompted commuters to book app-based couriers to deliver them to their destination, prompting the company to issue an advisory saying that it is not licensed to deliver people.