MANILA, Philippines — Over 50,000 traditional jeepneys have yet to be consolidated and may be taken off the road if operators do not comply with the government’s modernization program until June 30, an official said yesterday.
Data from the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) showed that only 96,000 jeepneys have joined cooperatives or corporations – a requirement under the public utility vehicle (PUV) modernization program.
LTFRB technical division chief Joel Bolano said the figure is equivalent to 61 percent of the 158,000 traditional jeepneys plying routes across the country.
The UV Express Service sector is doing better in terms of compliance with the consolidation policy, according to Bolano.
He said 72 percent or 19,000 units of UV Express nationwide have complied with the requirement.
Individual operators of traditional jeepneys, UV Express and multicabs will no longer be allowed to operate after June 30 unless they join cooperatives, based on a memorandum issued by the LTFRB on Monday.
Bolano noted that the franchises or provisional authority of PUVs that fail to comply with the deadline would no longer be extended.
“Kung hindi nag-consolidate, the franchise will not be extended and definitely they cannot operate,” he said at a press briefing.
Bolano said PUV operators should have anticipated the deadline, adding it has been extended several times.
The transport regulatory body is still discussing contingency measures to ensure that commuters would not be affected if some PUV operators fail to meet the deadline, according to Bolano.
“The LTFRB has contingency measures in case hindi maabot ang 100 percent compliance of PUV operators. We will wait for the final guidelines of the board,” he said.