LTFRB to open new missionary routes in Yolanda-hit Tacloban

Four years after Supertyphoon Yolanda ravaged Tacloban, the government decided to open new missionary routes to provide safe mass transport service for thousands displaced residents.

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has just approved a resolution providing for the service.

According to the LTFRB, around 15,000 families are being relocated 15 kilometers north from the city proper, the location of the largest post-disaster resettlement area of Leyte province.

Most of those affected by the government relocation project come from the coastal areas, the LTFRB said.

The following are the new missionary routes:

Route A: New Transport Terminal to Tagpuro and vice versa (14 kms), servicing the housing sites of Villa Sofia, Sangyaw Village, and New Hope Village

Route B: New Transport Terminal to New Kawayan and vice versa (12kms), servicing Villa Diana, North Hill Arbours, Guadalupe Heights, Greendale Subdivision, and St. Francis Village

Route C: New Transport Terminal to Cabalawan and vice versa (8 kms), servicing Ridgeview Subdivision, UNDP housing site, Lions Ville, and Knightsridge

Fifteen franchises will be opened for each route, or a total of 45 franchises for the new missionary routes, according to the LTFRB.

“There is a clear and urgent necessity to open new missionary routes in this area in order to establish an efficient, reliable, and safe mass transport service for the needs of residents of Tacloban North resettlement site,” the LTFRB said in a statement on Tuesday.

“There is presently no authorized public utility vehicle service route that would serve the area between Tacloban North and Tacloban City proper,” it said. /atm