The Makati City government announced on Monday that it would buy four more brand-new buses to augment the six city-owned vehicles providing free rides to commuters in Quezon City who work in Makati.
“Our present fleet of vehicles can accommodate only up to 250 passengers per trip and the overwhelming response of the public to our program in its initial run has prompted our decision to add more buses so that more citizens would benefit,” Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay Jr. said in a statement.
At the same time, he asked barangay (village) officials to also offer free rides using their service vehicles.
Binay earlier ordered the deployment of two city-owned buses and four coasters—all brand-new vehicles—for the launching on March 27 of the city’s free shuttle service program for Makati-bound workers in the North Edsa area.
He said that although the intended beneficiaries were not Makati residents, the city government wanted to make it easier for them to get to work as they contribute to the city’s economic growth. The program was also launched after the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) suffered breakdowns due to a computer glitch, resulting in very long lines at its stations.
The six-vehicle convoy, which picks up passengers at the MRT-3 North Avenue station in Quezon City, makes two nonstop trips daily to the Makati Stock Exchange Building on Ayala Avenue between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. on workdays.
“We intend to continue offering free shuttle services to Makati workers, especially since traffic on Edsa is expected to get worse because of simultaneous major road infrastructure projects,” Binay said.