ILOILO – The provincial government is waiting for the approval of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) of its Local Public Transport Route Plan (LPTRP) for 2023 to 2026.
The province submitted the transport route plan to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Region 6 on May 26 to be forwarded to the DOTr for review and comments.
DOTr will then conduct a series of consultations and simulations for possible revisions and improvements, said Mario Nillos, chief of Provincial Planning and Development Office.
“Upon approval, the DOTr will issue a Notice of Compliance to be forwarded to the governor. Then the Sangguniang Panlalawigan will enact it into a zoning ordinance. The DOTr will then issue a memorandum circular implementing the transport route plan,” Nillos said.
The transport route plan consists of 67 rationalized routes and eight new or developmental routes.
According to Nillos, the DOTr will conduct a dry run on the proposed routes, especially the entry of “first towns” jeepneys in Iloilo City, to determine the actual number of fleets or units of modernized jeepneys that will be allowed.
The provincial government based the submission of the number of fleets of modernized jeepney units on the demand of the passengers, and the number may change after the dry run, Nillos added.
“Siling sang DOTr nga manaog liwat sila kag i-dry run gid namon para kon may little improvement, i-correct namon,” he added.
Nillos has not yet determined when the DOTr will be able to conduct a dry run together with the provincial and city governments; the city government needed to start the implementation of its transport plan first to see its impact on the “first towns” jeepneys.
Currently, Nillos said the city government is just waiting for the DOTr’s issuance of the memorandum circular.
He estimated that the dry run would last for one month.
The planning officer also said the province has started training its technical people in preparation for a dry run.
The province’s three-year plan complements that of Iloilo City as both LGUs are interwoven. (With reports from LHC/Capitol news)/PN
