Public transport distancing rules eased

MANILA, Philippines — More commuters in Metro Manila will soon be accommodated by trains and public utility vehicles (PUVs) as the government is set to relax physical distancing measures on various modes of public transportation.?

The Department of Transportation said the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has approved the proposal of the DOTr and the Economic Development Cluster (EDC) to increase ridership in public transportation by reducing the physical distance between commuters.?

“There is a need to safely optimize the carrying capacity of the various public transport modes as Metro Manila and its adjacent areas continue with the transition towards the new normal where more workers are expected to return to their re-opened work places and more businesses are expected to resume operations that were stopped during the enforcement of strict quarantine measures,” Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said.?

The DOTr said that with strict health protocols in place to contain the spread of COVID-19 such as the mandatory use of face masks and face shields, the one-meter physical distancing measure being observed can be safely adjusted to an initial 0.75 meters, and then to 0.5 meters and 0.3 meters later on to allow for optimization of ridership.?

Tugade said the EDC and DOTr’s proposal got the approval and support of the National Task Force (NTF) against COVID-19.?

In a statement, the DOTr said the new policy wherein the physical distance between commuters inside public transport units would be optimized from one meter to 0.75 meters would be implemented starting Monday.?

It would be further optimized to 0.5 meters after two weeks and to 0.3 meters after another two weeks. ?However, transportation assistant secretary Goddess Libiran clarified that the Department of Health (DOH) has requested for a meeting with the EDC and the DOTr to discuss the approved reduction of passenger social distance requirements.?“As to the start of implementation, we will advise once we are made aware of what was decided upon during the set meeting between the DOH, EDC, DOTr and IATF,” Libiran said.?For class 2 modern PUVs and public utility buses, the DOTr said easing the physical distance between passengers inside the vehicles would mean that standing passengers may be accommodated.?This will also result in more passengers being allowed to enter airports and seaports. ?For LRT-1, the relaxed distancing requirements would increase the allowed capacity to 204 (0.75-meter), 255 (0.5-meter) and 300 (0.3 meter) from the current 155 with the one-meter distancing policy.?The LRT-2 line would see passenger capacity rise to 212 (0.75-meter), 274 (0.5 meter) and 502 (0.3-meter) from its current 160.?MRT-3 passenger capacity would expand to 204 (0.75-meter), 255 (0.5-meter) and 286 (0.3-meter) from 153.?In PNR, trains would be able to accommodate 184 (0.75-meter), 256 (0.5-meter) and 320 (0.3-meter) from the existing 166.?National Task Force against COVID-19 chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. said optimizing the physical distancing between passengers would translate to more employees and workers that will be able to reach their workplaces despite strict quarantine measures imposed by the government to contain the spread of COVID-19.?“Optimizing the physical distance between passengers inside PUVs without sacrificing strict health and safety protocols, such as wearing of face masks and face shields, will help soothe the transportation woes of Filipino commuters. With public transportation, there is faster recovery of lives and livelihoods as we push forward under the new normal,” Galvez said.

Meanwhile, the Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC) is all set for cashless toll collection transactions in its expressways in time for its full implementation in November.

Roberto Bontia, MPTC’s RFID 100 task force head, said about 75 percent of the expressway lanes are already RFID-enabled.

“There are only seven weeks left to implement cashless and contactless transactions at every toll plaza, and MPTC expressways are up to the challenge,” he assured.

Recently, the Philippine Arena toll plaza, Lawang Bato Northbound Entry and expansion lanes in Balintawak and Bocaue toll plazas in NLEX have been converted into exclusive RFID lanes. CALAX also opened 100 percent RFID interchanges in Laguna Boulevard and Laguna Technopark in Biñan City, Laguna.

The battery-powered Easytrip tags used since 2005 at the NLEX-SCTEX will also be phased out starting Sept. 30 as part of the transition to RFID. Easytrip tag users are assured that the remaining account balance will be carried over when they switch to the new RFID system.

All MPTC-allied expressways have also introduced a reduced initial load of the Stick-It-Yourself RFID stickers from P500 to P200. The stickers are free.

MPTC operates the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX), Cavite Expressway (CAVITEX) and the Cavite Laguna Expressway (CALAX).

It is set to activate the “RFID Assist Squads” to assist motorists who need immediate help with their stickers for initial loading and reloading.

J. Luigi Bautista, NLEX Corporation president and general manager, advised all motorists to avoid last-minute compliance to DOTR order for cashless transactions at the expressways.

“Minimizing physical contact and going cashless in our toll roads became an urgent priority because public health has taken on a whole new level of significance with COVID-19.  Although we have launched the RFID as a payment option in our expressways for quite some time already, it has become more relevant with this global health crisis,” he said.

Tollway patrols have been instructed to require all vehicles without RFID tags to “install RFID stickers on the spot” at the toll plazas.

Mark Steven Pastor, DOTr Assistant Secretary for road transport and infrastructure, said the all-RFID toll collection system is aimed to help prevent the transmission of COVID-19 and ensure a more efficient traffic flow in the expressways.  – Ralph Edwin Villanueva, Ramon Lazaro