After buses, Manila targets other ‘colorum’ vehicles

Fair warning for drivers of other “colorum” vehicles in the City of Manila: You’re next.

After cracking down on passenger buses that operate without a franchise, Mayor Joseph Estrada announced Monday that the city government’s next targets would be illegal passenger jeepneys, tricycles, pedicabs as well as the “kuliglig” (motorized pedicab).

Stressing that he and other officials were intent on regulating public utility vehicles to ease traffic in Manila, Estrada said: “We will not allow any colorum vehicle [in the city]. Just so they know even though there is no official notice yet, I’m warning them to start packing.”

At the same time, he told reporters at the weekly Kapihan sa Diamond Hotel forum that he and his appointed traffic czar, Vice Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso, would continue to initiate changes in the “experimental” regulation of passenger buses’ operations until the system was perfect.

Last week, the city government implemented a council resolution that banned the entry in Manila of buses without terminals. Although the scheme did reduce vehicular volume in the city, it led to heavy traffic at its boundaries and was severely criticized by commuters who branded it as inconvenient.

Over the weekend, a consultation with bus operators resulted in a few concessions on the part of the city government. Legitimate operators were allowed to field five to 10 buses each provided that these would stop only at designated loading and unloading areas.

In addition, the Park N’ Ride would serve as a terminal for these passenger buses, a condition that led to some operators complaining about the additional burden of having to pay terminal fees.

Domagoso, however, explained that it was necessary for buses to have a terminal so that their entry and departure into the city would be regulated to prevent traffic buildup.

“It’s not about the [parking] fee because they were willing to [bribe other people] before. What they don’t like about going into the terminal is the waiting period unlike before when they would all rush out into the street and compete to get the most passengers,” he said.

According to him, it was just a matter of time before the city government started regulating the operations of jeepneys, tricycles, pedicabs and the kuliglig.