Buses to take place of jeeps hit by ‘Tanggal Bulok’ drive
The government is deploying buses to help out passengers affected by the crackdown on dilapidated and smoke-belching passenger jeepneys and the ever worsening operations of the Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT 3).
Starting today, at least 20 city buses will start plying jeepney routes in areas most affected by the government’s “Tanggal Bulok, Tanggal Usok” campaign.
According to Jojo Garcia, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) assistant general manager for planning, the setup will be in effect for two to three months as affected jeepney drivers and operators repair their units to ensure that these pass emission and safety standards.
I-ACT campaign
The deployment of the buses comes three weeks after the Interagency Council on Traffic (I-ACT) started its drive to rid the streets of dilapidated public utility vehicles.
Since then, it has impounded 50 passenger jeepneys and issued citation tickets to the drivers of 244 other units for smoke belching.
The routes most affected by I-ACT’s campaign are Quiapo district and Baclaran in Manila, Commonwealth and Novaliches in Quezon City, Guadalupe in Makati City, and Masinag in Antipolo City.
To fully utilize the buses, Garcia said they would rotate these among the six areas depending on passenger demand. For today, they will service the Fairview-Quiapo-Taft route and vice versa.
Nonair-conditioned buses will charge a regular fare of P10 as compared to P12 for air-conditioned units.
P2P bus service revived
Meanwhile, transport authorities will revive on Thursday the point-to-point (P2P) bus service implemented during the holiday season.
As early as 5:45 a.m., P2P buses will start operating at North Avenue and Quezon Avenue stations. There will also be an MMDA bus offering free rides. Five private buses, which will charge P15, will leave the stations every 15 minutes.
However, the bus service will be available only during the morning rush hour as there are no available parking spaces for the northbound buses at Taft and Ayala.
