LTFRB requires safety training for PUV drivers, conductors
PUV drivers and conductors are required to undergo mandatory safety training that costs P2,000 unless transport cooperatives provide trainers accredited by LTFRB.
MANILA, Philippines — Public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers and conductors may soon have to pay an estimated P2,000 for a mandatory comprehensive training on road safety, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) said on Wednesday.
The LTFRB said that under Memorandum Circular No. 2024-040, the agency shall develop and institutionalize the “Driver’s and Conductor’s Academy Program (DCAP)” which will include the accreditation of driving schools that will conduct the training and the mandatory road safety education of drivers and conductors of PUVs.
“All PUV drivers and conductors of existing franchise holders, with valid and existing Certificate of Public Convenience and/or Provisional Authority and Special Permits, are required to complete the required course designed by the LTFRB,” the agency said in a statement.
“The enrollment fee for participants in the program is pegged at P2,000 and must be completed within a minimum of two days but not to exceed eight days,” it added.
However, LTFRB chair Teofilo Guadiz III clarified that transportation cooperatives may offer the program for free so long as they have accredited trainers and psychologists.
“Ito lang [the P2,000 fee] is suggested lang for those who would attempt to do it on a commercial basis. But if the cooperative, the bus company would have their own trainer accredited by LTFRB, walang bayad (it’s free),” said Guadiz in a phone interview with reporters.
Pilot implementation in Metro Manila set in May
Guadiz said the pilot implementation of the program will first be held in Metro Manila for a few months starting around May before implementing it in other urban areas.
The initial implementation will also be limited to bus and truck drivers and conductors for the first year.
“On the second year, jeeps. Ayaw ko pagsabay sabayin kasi baka sumabog ‘yung program (I don’t want to go all out immediately because the program might explode) because of implementation. So we would like first to see through the pilot study how it will work,” said Guadiz.
He said the training will be composed of three components: a lecture on road safety, psychological exam, and basic first aid and life support training.
The LTFRB will also establish monitoring systems that will ensure the compliance of all PUV operators to hire and register only PUV drivers who passed the required continuing road safety training.
According to the agency, the training was proposed to address the thousands of road crashes recorded each year.
READ: DOH reports more hurt in road crashes
Citing data from the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) at least 58,000 road crashes or an average of 157 incidents daily were recorded in 2022, while 44,493 road crashes were recorded from January 2023 to July 2023.
Out of the 44,493 reported road accidents, about 32,800 resulted in damage to property, while 11,525 incidents were non-fatal with 168 fatal road crashes. With reports from Sheba Barr, INQUIRER.net trainee
