Commuters availing themselves of a bus ride at the Edsa Bus Carousel Station in Cubao, Quezon City, form a long line that stretches to an overpass as many of them return to work on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023, after the New Year holidays. (File photo by NIÑO JESUS ORBETA / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has deployed 42 additional buses along EDSA Carousel to help ease long passenger queues during peak hours.
The deployment of the buses – all compliant with Omnibus Franchising Guidelines — started at 6 p.m. last Monday, Jan. 9, and will continue until 6 a.m. on Jan. 16, the LTFRB said in a statement.
The 42 buses will run for 12 hours — from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily, after the 20-hour run by regular buses, which is from 4 a.m. to midnight.
“The extra units, which come from bus companies that are not members of the two big consortiums that operate on the EDSA Busway Carousel, are meant to augment the existing number of buses plying said route,” the LTFRB said.
The two bus consortiums operating at the EDSA Carousel are the ES Transport and Partners Consortium and the Mega Manila Consortium Corp.
In an online press briefing, LTFRB Chairman Teofilo Guadiz III the two bus consortiums did not have enough drivers to operate the number of buses available.
According to Guadiz, the consortiums said they were forced to lay off drivers in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“When the time came again for them to require these drivers to come in, many of them had already gone home to their provinces,” Guadiz said, speaking in a mix of English and Filipino.
He said the two consortiums were operating at only 85 percent capacity.