MANILA – The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) announced that it will reopen over a hundred routes of public utility vehicles (PUV) to ply Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City after reports of shortage.
In a statement on Monday, the LTFRB said there will be six more routes with 158 modern public utility jeepneys (PUJ), 76 routes with 4,135 traditional PUJs, and one route with 19 units of modern UV Express and two routes with 2,783 traditional UV Express.
“Sa pamamagitan ng muling pagbubukas ng mga ruta at pagpapatakbo ng mga karagdagang unit ay mabibigyang solusyon ang kakulangan sa pampublikong transportasyon sa lugar na sumasaklaw sa mga rutang nabanggit upang matugunan ang hinaing ng mga mananakay (Through the reopening of the routes and operation of additional units, we will solve the lack of public transportation in affected areas to answer the plight of commuters),” the LTFRB said in a statement.
The LTFRB also apologized to commuters following reports of long lines of passengers along LITEX to Sandiganbayan and other parts of Commonwealth Avenue on Monday morning.
“Agarang nagpatawag ng emergency meeting si LTFRB Chairman Martin Delgra III matapos makatanggap ng mga ulat tungkol sa nangyari kanina (LTFRB Chairman Delgra immediately called for an emergency meeting after receiving reports of what occurred earlier),” the LTFRB said.
The initial investigation found that of the 510 public utility buses that were authorized to ply route 5 (Angat to Quezon Avenue via Commonwealth), just less than half were in operation.
“Patuloy pang iniimbestigahan ng ahensya ang nasabing insidente upang mapanagot ang operator sa nasabing ruta, ang United Mega Manila Bus Consortium, Inc.-NAT Transport (We are continuing to investigate the incident so the operator of the said route, United Mega Manila Bus Consortium, Inc.-NAT Transport, will be held responsible),” the LTFRB said. (PNA)