DOTr eyes gradually increasing public transport capacity

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) considers a gradual increase in the public transport capacity.

“Naumpisahan na ‘yan, meron na kaming tinatawag na pag-aaral at a-approach kami sa IATF na kung puwede dagdagan, say 5%, 10%, and we make it gradual,” Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said.

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(We already started studying that and we will approach the IATF on the possibility of increasing capacity gradually by 5%, 10%.)

Tugade added that stakeholders are ready to increase the capacity of public transport. However, the final decision still depends on the Inter-agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).

At present, public transport is capped at 50% while the NCR Plus bubble—Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Bulacan—remains under the general community quarantine (GCQ).

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Metro Manila and some neighboring provinces, , will remain under general community quarantine (GCQ) “with restrictions” until the end of June, President Rodrigo Duterte announced Monday night.

Duterte said NCR and Bulacan will be placed in the GCQ “with some restrictions”, while Rizal, Laguna, and Cavite will be in the GCQ “with heightened restrictions.”

DOTr eyes gradually increasing public transport capacity

GCQ with some restrictions is a looser type of quarantine compared to GCQ with heightened restrictions.

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A group of commuters called for more  on the EDSA Carousel to reduce the number of people queuing.

According to Julius Danay, chairperson of Commuters of the Philippines, traffic in EDSA is getting heavier, and queues at bus stations are getting longer.

“Unang solusyon diyan na puwedeng gawin ay padamihin ang supply,” he said in an interview with Teleradyo Wednesday.

“Kahit na sabihin mo na ang desenyo ng EDSA Carousel ay 550 buses, sa 550 na ‘yon, divided by 2 pa ‘yan kasi naka-limit tayo sa capacity given ‘yong IATF measures.”

For Danay, an urban transport planner, the  should allow old buses to travel to EDSA to supplement the routes to Ortigas and Ayala.

He added that the number of cyclists is now increasing due to the lack of transportation to work.

“Sana huwag niyong damdamin ‘yong mga reklamo ng mga commuters kasi hindi naman ito nais ng mga commuters na manggulo o manglait sa gobyerno. Kung tutuusin, ito ay isang constructive criticism,” he said.

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