BY MARY JOY CAVAÑAS
ILOILO City – Taking a significant step for the implementation of the Local Public Transportation Route Plan (LPTRP) here, the city government held a “ceremonial stickering” of consolidated public utility vehicles (PUVs).
Aiming to streamline public transport service, color-coded stickers were installed on jeepneys on Dec. 30, 2023 to indicate their routes.
There are 25 city routes, said Uldarico Garbanzos who head of the Iloilo City Traffic Management Unit (ICTMU).
The city’s LPTRP is in line with the government’s public transport modernization program which requires the consolidation of PUVs.
The consolidation period concluded on Dec. 31, 2023 but last week unconsolidated jeepneys were given a reprieve – they have until the end of January 2024 to do so, or they won’t be allowed to operate anymore. Their franchises would be revoked.
Garbanzos said non-compliant jeepneys would eventually be considered illegal.
As of Dec. 30, 2013 1,262 traditional jeepneys had been consolidated.
The Western Visayas Alliance of Transport Cooperatives & Corporations, Inc. (WVATCCI) will continue the stickering process until Jan. 2, focusing on preventing unconsolidated jeepneys from operating./PN
