Mayors seek phaseout of 10-year-old buses

PUBLIC utility bus operators in Metro Manila may soon face another hurdle on their operation, the moment the members of the Metro Manila Council, the policy making body of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), push through with its proposal to disallow operators from renewing the registration and franchise of 10-year-old and above bus units.

According to Mayor Herbert Bautista of Quezon City, they are now finishing the proposal that would lower the maximum age of buses that will be allowed to operate in Metro Manila, from 15-years-old to 10-years-old.

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) had set a 15-year life span for passenger buses and operators with old buses must replace their units with brand new ones if they want to keep their franchise.

But under the proposal of the special committee on Public transportation, which Bautista heads, 10-year-old bus units will not be allowed to renew its registration and the operators must replace it with a brand new eco-friendly bus unit.

“This will be the new condition for bus operators before they are allowed to transfer their franchise into a new unit but this is being pushed primarily to promote environment friendly metropolis and not to get rid of buses,” Bautista said in an interview with The Manila Times.

The Quezon City mayor added that they would submit the proposal to all concerned government agencies like the Department of Transportation and Communications, Department of Energy and the LTFRB.

He, however, made it clear that all stakeholders particularly the bus company owners will be consulted in the process.
Meanwhile, transport officials, lawmakers and public utility vehicle organizations will be meeting this week to discuss solutions to the growing traffic, as well as the colorum problem in the metropolis.

The public hearing was called by House Committee on Metro Manila Development chaired by Rep. Toby Tiangco of Navotas to be able to come up with new ways on how to address the age-old problem of illegal vehicles.

It was learned that the Committee was unanimous in pushing for the use of modern electronic identification technology to address these problems and establish order in the streets.

Earlier, Tiangco raised the need to use existing technology like the vehicle identification system as a way to curb the traffic problem just like the system used in more developed countries such as Singapore ’s Electronic Road Pricing system, or ERP, which utilizes Radio Frequency Identification technology.

The electronic tracking system will also be able to monitor bus movements to prevent road congestions. It can also act as an electronic dispatching system that can monitor passenger volume and match the supply of buses with the number of passengers at a particular time during the day. This will certainly address the huge traffic problem in the metropolis. –Jefferson Antiporda, Manila Times