Ensure ‘secure, convenient’ trips on Holy Week, transport agencies told

Passengers bound to Bicol and Visayas provinces flock to the Araneta Bus Terminal in Quezon City for the Holy Week break. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade on Tuesday urged all transportation agencies to be on heightened alert and to be ready for an influx of passengers this coming Holy Week.

The Holy Week will start on March 25, Palm Sunday and end on April 1, Easter Sunday. Only March 29 to 30 are declared regular holidays, while March 31 is a special non-working day.

Tugade said that through the Department of Transportation’s (DOTr) “Oplan Biyaheng Ayos: Semana Santa 2018,” all of the DOTr’s attached agencies were directed to ensure that travel would be “secure, convenient and comfortable.”

Under the operation plan, DOTr’s attached agencies would work 24/7 to provide regular updates of it operations in real time.

All booths, counters, and centers serving passengers must also be properly manned during all operating hours to lessen and prevent heavy queuing, Tugade said.

A “no leave, no day-off” policy will also be implemented among airport personnel, he said.

Public advisories such as safety tips, common types of violations at expressways, documentation requirements and safety and security regulations at airports, seaports, and other transportation hubs would also be sent out to provide information to all travelers.

Tugade said that the DOTr Action Center through hotline 7890 would also be available throughout the Holy Week.

“Ang mahalaga dito ay komportable at ligtas ang pasahero. Inaasahan na natin na mas maraming tao at mas busy ang mga terminal pero dapat maramdaman ng ating mga pasahero na inaasikaso natin sila,” the DOTr chief said in a statement.

(What’s important here is the passengers’ comfort and safety. We’re expecting a lot of people and the terminals will be busy, but the passengers need to feel that we are taking care of them.) /je