TRANSPORT GROUPS CONCERNED
ABOUT PUV PHASEOUT
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines)
Jeepney operators and drivers warned on
Wednesday that they plan to hold a
nationwide transport holiday if Congress
grants a proposal to phase out public-
utility vehicles (PUV) 15 years old and
above.
The Department of Transportation (DOTr)
is pushing the proposal as part of the bill
granting emergency powers to President
Rodrigo Duterte to solve the transport
crisis.
Transport officials said the phaseout is
meant to modernize public
transportation.
But the Stop & Go Transport Coalition
said the proposed move would remove
90% of the country's jeepneys from the
roads nationwide, leaving around 80,000
in operation.
The group said in Metro Manila alone,
54,000 drivers would lose their
livelihoods and leave a huge gap in the
transport system.
"Natatakot kami sa emergency power na
balakin ng gobyerno para sa amin," said
jeepney operator Melchor Estacio. "Kami
naman po ay sumusoporta sa ating
mahal na Pangulo, nakikisama sa
kanyang layunin para sa sambayanang
Pilipino. Pero 'di namin inaasahan na
ganito ang kapalit."
[Translation: We're afraid of the
emergency powers that the government
is planning to use on us. We support our
beloved President and join him in his
goals for the Filipino people. But we
didn't expect that this is what we would
have to give up in exchange.]
Operators want the Transportation
department to find ways to ease the
burden of buying new PUVs. They said
the DOTr's proposal to give them loans
from Land Bank of the Philippines is not
acceptable because not all of them can
meet the loan requirements.
Meanwhile, commuters have mixed
reactions to the plan.
"Siguro nga mas okay 'yun kasi nga dun
sa sinasabi nila pollution," said commuter
Robert Gomez. "The best 'yun kasi
meron ata silang ibibigay dun sa mga
taong maapektohan. Bibigay hulugan."
[Translation: I think the proposal is okay
because of pollution. It's the best
measure because I think the government
will give money to those who will be
affected.]
"Mahirapan po siyempre," said commuter
Joven Aninaw. "Siyempre yung mga
kapos, ano na po yung alternate na
sasakyan nila?"
[Translation: It will be difficult, of course.
If there aren't enough vehicles, what
alternate rides can commuters use?]
Gradual transition
DOTr spokesperson Cherie Mercado
assured commuters and jeepney
operators that they have nothing to
worry about. She said there will be a
gradual transition designed to minimize
the impact.
"We are not here to choke the livelihood
of a lot of people especially our drivers,"
she said. "We would like to modernize our
fleet for safety and for the environmental
compliance. Lahat po tayo makikinabang
dito [All of us will benefit from this]."
The Transport department said they will
come out with guidelines as soon as they
finish their study.
Previous phaseout proposals
The phaseout plan is nothing new.
In 2012, the Aquino administration began
a push to reinvent the jeepney by
introducing e-jeepneys - which are said
to be more cost efficient end eco-friendly.
Then-DOTC Secretary Mar Roxas also said
they would reduce the age limits of PUVs
over time.
In January 2016, former Land
Transportation Franchising and
Regulatory Board Chair Winston Ginez
said a mandatory phaseout would begin
in 2017.
JEEPNEY PHASEOUT WILL AFFECT
650,000 DRIVERS, 250,000 OPERATORS
PISTON
MANILA, Philippines -- About 2,000
jeepney drivers staged a protest caravan
from Quezon Memorial Circle to
Mendiola on Monday to protest the
proposed phaseout of jeepneys and small
jeepney franchises, which they said will
affect 650,000 drivers and 250,000
operators.
In an interview with InterAksyon, George
San Mateo, president of the transport
group PISTON, said the phaseout was
first proposed during the time of
President Benigno Aquino III and appears
to be imminent under President Rodrigo
Duterte if statements by Transportation
Secretary Art Tugade and Land
Transportation Franchising and
Regulatory Board chairman Martin Delgra
are any indication.
According to a pamphlet PISTON
members distributed at the Mendiola
rally, a draft department order of what
was then the Department of
Transportation and Communications
proposed the modernization of jeepneys.
BusinessWorld reported that jeepneys 15
years and older would have to be
replaced. Holders of Certificates of Public
Convenience would be required to
purchase new public utility jeepney units
"compliant with guidelines on low-
carbon, low-emission technology."
But such a plan would force operators to
buy electric jeepneys and Euro 4-
compliant engines, which would cost
millions of pesos and bury them in debt,
PISTON said.
Meanwhile, "route rationalization" is
being proposed under House Bill 4334
(Traffic Crisis Act of 2016 Maki-isa,
Makisama, Magka-isa) and Senate Bill
1284 (Traffic and Congestion Crisis Act of
2016), through which existing routes
would be reviewed by the Department of
Transportation.
The DOTr would then decide which ones
should be traversed by jeeps, buses,
trains, and tricycles.
Under this scheme, said San Mateo,
jeepney franchises would be cancelled,
new routes opened, and new franchises
created.
Single operators could no longer apply
for a franchise since a minimum of 20
jeepney units, needing a capital of P7
million, will be required.
By 2019, the minimum would be raised
to 40 jeepney units.
"It is not a simple phaseout, but a
corporate takeover of jeepneys," San
Mateo said.
This is why they, he added, were asking
Duterte to stop the phaseout and
corporatization, which would begin next
year.
The 650,000 jeepney drivers and
250,000 jeepney operators would not be
the only ones affected by the proposal,
San Mateo said.
"These are just direct stakeholders. When
you include their families, multiply it by a
family of six or five, more or less it will
reach four million. And there are
peripheral businesses that are dependent
on jeepneys to think of, too. Carinderia,
vulcanizing shop, auto supply... So maybe
it's about five million," he said.
SHOULD CARS OLDER THAN 15 YEARS BE
SCRAPPED?
This week, the Land Transportation
Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB)
locked horns with the providers of school
shuttle services over the age of their
vehicles. The LTFRB has mandated that
shuttles older than 15 years should be
phased out in favor of newer, Euro 4
emissions compliant vehicles. Should
such a ban on older vehicles be imposed
for other types as well?
Right now, the Philippines does not
impose an age limit to engines when it
comes to registration. In fact, older
vehicles are somewhat favored as the
cost of registration goes down for older
vehicles. Newer ones pay more and are
required to fork out a bigger amount in
the beginning by lumping together the
first three years of payment.
The main reason for scrapping older
vehicles is emissions. The Department of
Environment and Natural Resources
(DENR) mandated the adoption of Euro 4
fuel standards beginning this year.
Euro 4 is significantly cleaner than the
previous Euro 2 standard. Euro 4 fuel has
one-tenth the sulfur content of Euro 2
fuels. Sulfur in pollutants can contribute
to heart and lung diseases, and can
increase the risk of cancer. Starting 2016,
fuel and automobiles have to comply
with the new standard.
Still, that leaves millions of vehicles sold
before 2016 on the road and polluting
like it was 1999. Even if we start the
scrapping law now, it will still take 15
years to remove pre-Euro 4 cars from the
roads.
Phase out
DENR Secretary Ramon Paje Jr. has
recommended that vehicles older than
15 years be phased out to improve air
quality, particularly in Metro Manila.
As an alternative, he suggested that
older vehicles be banned from major
roads that are usually clogged with
traffic.
Heavier traffic means more idling time
for vehicles on the road. This leads to
more emissions, and older vehicles have
more toxic emissions, he said.
That newer vehicles would be safer and
cleaner is not being disputed, even by
the school shuttle operators. Their
contention is that the 15-year age limit is
too low, as school shuttles may not be
running the whole day and for long
distances, unlike other utility vehicles.
The reverse would be true of trucks and
buses. These run for many hours
straight, and travel hundreds of
kilometers on a single journey. For trucks
and buses, the 15-year age limit would
be applicable. The age limit would have
to be counted from the original date of
manufacture, and not when the vehicle
was imported to the Philippines.
Used trucks and buses that have run for
10 or more years are routinely registered
as new. Trucks and buses are designed to
ferry heavy loads and passengers, and
thus should be subject to more stringent
regulations.
Not a day goes by without a report of a
truck crashing due to failing brakes or
suspension components. Even worse are
buses that cause multiple deaths to
passengers and pedestrians, sometimes
due to component failure.
Motioncars and Inquirer Motoring
columnist Botchi Santos has suggested a
seven- or eight-year age limit on
vehicles, particularly for taxi cabs.
Proving roadworthiness
He suggested that reducing the number
of old vehicles on the road will help free
up traffic and reduce crashes due to poor
maintenance. Such a scrapping law
would also stimulate new vehicle sales.
limit. But the LTO has proven incapable of
implementing regulations based on
emissions and roadworthiness, so an age
limit would be easier to follow.
Vintage cars
What about that classic sports car in your
garage? Vintage motor vehicles (defined
as 40 years and older) can be restricted
for use on certain days such as weekends
and holidays. This was precisely the
subject of an administrative order issued
by the Land Transportation Office.
But as with everything in the Philippines,
special interest groups started raising a
fuss, and soon the order was put on the
back burner.
The logical conclusion must be: Older
cars, in the range of 15 years and up,
should be scrapped. The alternative is to
tax older vehicles prohibitively so that
registering them will become less
attractive, allowing owners to opt for
newer vehicles instead.

The rules in other countries vary.

Singapore imposes a 10-year registration
limit on a new vehicle, via its Certificate
of Entitlement (COE) program. One
cannot buy a vehicle without this.

The COE of a new vehicle expires after 10

years. It can be renewed, but at an
enormous cost, so most owners would
decide to buy a COE for a new vehicle
instead.

The Netherlands requires a

roadworthiness certificate for cars. Its
required annually for vehicles older than
six years, and every two years for
vehicles less than six years old. Germany
has a similar inspection program.
Using roadworthiness as a criterion would
actually make more sense than an age
HINAY-HINAY LANG SA PUJ PHASE-OUT
Pinayuhan ng Catholic Bishop Conference
of the Philippines (CBCP) ang gobyerno
na magdahan-dahansaplano nitong
pag-phase out sa mga lumang Public Uti-
lity Jeepneys (PUJs).
Ayon kay San Carlos Bishop Gerardo
Alminaza,chairpersonng Church
People-Workers Solidarity (CPWS), hindi
dapat na magdusa ang kabuhayan ng
mga jeepney drivers sa planong ito ng
gobyerno.
Thegovernment should make sure the
labor sector wont be gravely
disadvantaged with whatevermeasure
theywill adopt, anang obispo.
Are there safety nets provided for those
sectors greatly affected by the phase-
out? ayon sa Obispo.
Sinabi pa ng Obispo na dapat ding
ikonsidera muna ng pamahalaan ang
socioeconomicimpact ng plano nila at
magkaroon ng kaukulang konsultasyon
sa mga transport groups at iba pang
stakeholders,bagoito tuluyang isulong.
Matatandaan na nagkaisaangmga
transport group noong Lunes na
magsagawa ng tigil pasada sa Metro
Manila upang ipakita ang pagtutol sa
panukalang pag-phase out ng mga
jeepney na 15-taong gulang na pataas.
Iginiit naman ng Department of
Transportation (DOTr) na ang plano ay
hindi naman i-phase outangmga
jeepney kundi bahagi lamang ng
kanilangmodernization program para
mabawasan ang masikip na daloy ng
trapiko at gawing environmentally-
friendly ang mga public utility vehicles
(PUVs).
TRANSPORT STRIKE FEB 27, 2017
JEEPNEY PHASE OUT & PLIGHT OF
DRIVERS
Its true, transport groups will hold
another transport strike on Monday,
February 27. 2017 beginning at 6AM, it is
being organized by transport groups
PISTON, STOP and GO Coalition, and No
To Jeepney Phase Out Coalition (NJPOC).
According to the groups, their fellow
drivers and operators will also hold a
transport strike in the following cities
nationwide including Baguio City, Cebu
City, Iloilo City, Tacloban City, and
Cagayan de Oro City.
Phase out of 15-year old PUJs and PUBs
The transport strike is in protest of the
planned phase out of Public Utility Jeeps
and Buses that are over 15 years of age.
This was laid down in DOTC Order 2002-
03 which is further implemented by
LTFRB Resolution No 2013-01 which
basically mandates that PUB and PUJ
units that are 15 years of age and over
would no longer be given a Certificate of
Public Convenience essentially removing
these vehicles off our roads.
LTFRB spokesperson Aileen Lizada said
the phase out of old jeepneys is part of
the government program to modernize
public transport. In place of the old jeeps
that run on diesel, the government is
pushing the promotion of e-jeeps which
run on eletricity.
To help drivers and operators make the
switch to E-jeepneys, Lizada said the
government would buy the old jeeps and
offer loans to help with the purchase.
Which seems fair and reasonable, though
I havent come across any news report or
publicly available information about the
details of this loan and buy back
scheme of the government.
Loss of livelihood
Transport groups fear that since most of
the jeeps they use are over 15 years old,
despite being in good road-worthy
conditions, a lot from their sector would
lose their means of livelihood. The e-jeep
being offered by the government are too
expensive for small operators to buy.
They also have doubts about its reliability
and mileage. Even with loans from the
government, the E-jeeps would only
contribute to an increase in fares as the
costs would be passed on to the
commuters. And with the additional
requirements for operators to have at
least 10 units to avail of the loans, this
will only force the small operators out of
business and deprive them of a means of
living.
Public safety vs means of livelihood
The government claims that the phase
out of old jeeps is to ensure the
commuters have a safe public transport.
Statistics on road safety, in particular,
accidents involving PUJs are not readily
available online. The only stats Ive
managed to find is from a post by Top
Gear from data gathered by DOTC in
2012! The bit of statistics relevant to
road safety are as follows:
79% Road crash fatalities caused by
driver error
11% Road crash fatalities caused by
defective vehicles
With no data on how many of these road
accidents due to defective vehicles
involved public utility jeepneys, we really
cant say if 15-year-old jeepneys are
really a safety risk for the riding public.
Given that there are far more road
accidents caused by driver error. one
could say it doesnt matter if your vehicle
is old or brand new.
Mr. George San Mateo, national president
of the militant Pagkakaisa ng mga
Samahan ng Tsuper at Opereytor
Nationwide (Piston) in an article by Fred
Dabu in UP Forum, explains why jeep
drivers are among the poor and
vulnerable of our society:
Ang mga jeepney driver ay mala-
manggagawa kumpara sa mga bus
driver na manggagawa kasi may
employee-employer relationship sa mga
bus company habang walang employee-
employer relationship sa mga jeepney
driver. Karamihan dating magsasaka,
iniwan ang lupa at pumunta sa sentrong
lunsod.
He went on to add:
San Mateo estimated the daily gross
income of jeepney drivers on a 24-hour-
run at Php500-600 or only equivalent to
a Php250 per day take-home income for
a 12-hour-shift, an amount way below
the minimum wage standard for workers.
He said there was no standard
boundary or amount given to the
jeepney operator. Walang fixed amount,
depende sa usapan, depende sa seating
capacity, route, sitwasyon ng trapik. For
instance, short routes would require
payments for operators as low as Php600
while long routes would require Php1,000
or more as boundary for a 24-hour-run.
The struggle for a more just means of
modernizing the public transport sector
against the rights of the jeep drivers and
operators to make a living has reached
the Court of Appeals where in August of
2016 it sided with the government ruling
that in the name public safety, the
governments right to police and regulate
public transport must prevail over the
rights of the few to earn a living.
Hence the transport strike, the 2nd this
February, that will take place tomorrow.
Sympathize with the jeep drivers and
operators
Tomorrow will be another difficult day for
many of us commuters. While some
schools have already announced class
cancellations for tomorrow to spare their
students and faculty of the
inconvenience the transport strike would
cause, it does nothing to address the
issue. Sure some of us would be able to
take a taxi, an Uber, a GrabCar to get to
work tomorrow all while being annoyed
and angry at the striking jeepney drivers,
it also does nothing to solve the issue.

While we will be inconvenienced

tomorrow by the transport strike, take a
minute to think that the striking drivers
would sacrifice a day of earnings to send
their message across and to call out
attention to their cause: if the
government will have its way, they would
lose their livelihood. There will be lesser
jeepneys to go around, commuting will
be a lot more difficult and costly even
after the transport strike.

This issue is not just about old jeepneys,

its about the terrible mess that our
public transport has become. Theres a
better way of modernizing our public
transport. It doesnt have to be just about
the safety of the commuting public over
the livelihood of drivers and operators.
WHATS RIGHT AND WRONG ABOUT
TRANSPO MODERNIZATION
There will always be pros and cons to any
issue, like the governments transport-
modernization program, aimed mainly at
jeepneys, buses, school buses and
others, but allow me to focus on the
jeepneys.
Defining modernization. The
government is right to modernize the
jeepneys, if it follows its own definition
that a modern transport is
roadworthy, safe, reliable and,
above all, prevents pollution or has
emissions within acceptable
standards.
This definition is extended by Land
Transportation Franchising and
Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Resolution
2013, dated January 11, 2013, to mean a
strict 15-year age limit on public-utility
vehicles, from the date of manufacture of
the vehicle instead of the date of initial
registration with the Land Transportation
Office [LTO].
Vehicle dealers and manufacturers, along
with the vehicle financiers, will rejoice at
this new replacement market that could
mean massive spurts in business, which
is good for the industry.
For the jeepney sector, however, this
definition is highly flawed being a non
sequitor, which means it does not
necessarily follow that buying a new
diesel vehicle or engine will result in
cleaner emissions.
While most jeepney groups just oppose a
phaseout, the newly formed National
Jeepney Federation for Environmental
Sustainable Transport (NJFEST), headed
by Ronald Baroidan, also opposes a
phaseout, but seriously wants to comply
with the Clean Air Act (CAA) and even
names itself after the Department of
Transportations (DOTr) own program on
National Environmental Sustainable
Transport (NEST). While the debate goes
on over the definition of transpo
modernization, NJFEST grabs this
chance as its defining moment to make
its stand on why the governments
definition is also partly wrong.
Always a culprit, but not the cause.
After 17 years now of the CAA, the
antismoke-belching campaign has been
limited to road apprehension, often
implemented with apprehension owing to
the reported corruption that is
systematized and popularized with the
rampant nonappearance emission
clearance certificates.
Forced to earn a living with his
boundary obligation to his operator,
and not knowing how to reduce
emissions, a driver goes on driving only
to be caught again for smoke-belching,
thus, his only remedial solution is to
bribe his way.
But no amount of penalties nor frequency
of arrests will reduce his emissions,
changing his vehicle or engine as defined
by transpo modernization will add more
burden on the driver as he shoulders
mainly the amortizations, on top of his
current boundary obligation of about
P600 a day.
Unfortunately, no one is telling him the
right way, he just bears the burden after
burden and is blamed as the usual
culprit, although he simply just drives
and has nothing to do with the emissions.
Under Section 46 of the CAA, penalties
slapped must be accompanied with
education on reducing emissions. Section
11 also mandates that, along with
stricter emission standards, the
government must make available all the
information on pollution-control
techniques, best practices on
maintenance, technologies, etc., to allow
motorists to make more intelligent
choices that match their needs. After all,
pollution is caused by many factors, like
poor engine design, poor lubrication,
poor air-fuel ratio and poor fuel quality,
etc.
Few will know, fuel is it.
As to fuel, there is increasing evidence
poly-aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), the
chemical compounds heavily present in
light cycle oil (LCO), which is currently
blended with diesel, is reportedly the
main culprit behind emissions.
LCOs or heavy cycle oils, on the other
hand, are the waste by-products from
refining crude oil into gasoline, diesel,
kerosene, etc. Instead of storing them,
which is costly, refiners worldwide find it
more convenient to pass on this problem
to consumers by mixing them with diesel
to a maximum blend of 11 percent of
total diesel weight.
For so long, few will understand this fact
in the fuel we consume. But with the
information explosion
ushered in by the Internet and the surge
in environmentalism, oil companies can
no longer proverbially sweep their dirt
under the rug.
Oil companies may say this is a
sweeping statement or accusation, but
the facts are all over the Internet, and
that PAHs or LCOs are considered
unwanted oils.
Whats behind, comes out behind?
A study done by the VTT Technical
Research Centre of Finland shows almost
a direct correlation of the effects of PAHs
or LCOs on emissions. By reducing PAH
content in diesel by 80 percent from 5-
percent weight content to only 1 percent,
PAH-related emissions also dropped
massively by a range to as much as 80
percent. Sweden A-1 diesel is now down
to a PAH-content of 0.02 percent with
Finland at 0.2 percent owing to a tax
incentive to refiners, but average PAH
content in diesel in Europe is still about
4.5 percent, with a few still high at 10
percent. Bringing it down to 6 percent
costs the industry in Europe about 312
million, and will increase costs for every
drop in PAH content to as high 2.249
billion at 1-percent content.
In short, what we do not see how diesel
is produced behind the scenes, somehow
comes out now from behind from the
tailpipe emissions. But science now tells
us that when a vehicle farts from behind,
these can still be measured, even if
many toxic fumes, like carbon monoxide,
are odorless and invisible.
Tax from polluters pay principle.
For Finance Secretary Carlos D.
Domingez III, perhaps, it is easier to
justify his planned carbon tax on the
polluters pay principle, rather than insist
on a massive add-on excise tax on oil,
now that prices are prone to increase
with peso devaluation.
Another income-generating tax is a
congestion tax on vehicles, which is
captured through higher parking fees
solely on private cars, thus reducing the
volume of vehicles on the road. This will
help solve traffic and reverse the trend
toward the increasing share of vehicles
out of total air pollution in Metro Manila
from 70 percent over two to three
decades ago to 88 percent and, finally, to
92 percent as of 2015. This is due to
increasing volume of vehicles and the
transfer of factories to the countryside.
Both tax-reform ideas are worth
deliberating in separate discussions.
Another issue worth reviewing is the
Special Vehicle Pollution Control Fund,
which is a mere 7.5 percent of the road
users tax, but remains untapped and has
accumulated to about P8.5 billion. This
must be used to fund many
unimplemented provisions of the law, like
Section 15 on Air Pollution Research, so
as academic organizations, like
Researchers for Clean Air, led by Mylene
Cayetano, PhD, and others, need not
spend their own personal money to fund
research, and many more.
Even without enough budget, EMB-NCR
Director Minda Osorio, who has lumad
Manobo roots from Mindanao, was
decisive enough to approve instantly at
first meeting NJFESTs clean-air program,
called Jeepney Environment & Energy
Efficiency Program, that will also involve
academe.
Taking from President Duterte and
Environment Secretary Regina Paz L.
Lopezs decisiveness, Osorio noted that
an action plan becomes more effective,
if we can act soon.
Notes:
+ An excise tax is an indirect tax
charged on the sale of a particular good.
Indirect means the tax is not directly
paid by an individual consumer; instead,
the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) levies
the tax on the producer or merchant,
who passes the tax onto the consumer
by including it in the product's price.
TO IMPROVE TRAFFIC IN 2016, DOTC
TO OVERHAUL BUS, JEEP SYSTEMS
Jeeps: Phasing out of old vehicles
Theyre regarded as the kings of the road
in the Philippines, and are often
appropriated as symbols of the countrys
colorful history and culture. But the
jeepney, a relic of World War II, has to
keep up with the times.
As part of its jeepney modernization
program, the DOTC plans to impose an
age limit on jeeps. Those that are more
than 15 years old will have to be taken
off the roads, and operators will have to
replace them with brand new vehicles.
The decision on the 15-year-rule was not
arbitrary, Bonifacio said. It took into
account how supply can keep up with
demand, financing issues, and even
environmental concerns.
Transport is the second biggest
contributor of greenhouse gases, but
thats only about 37% of total emission
levels. Of that 37%, 80% come from
jeeps, so we really want to modernize the
fleet. We want to get them off the
road, Bonifacio said.
While the DOTC is mulling a voluntary
implementation of the new rule in 2016,
Bonifacio said operators can expect its
full implementation a year after that.
Jeep operators can still use their old units
for one more year, but they have to
either present a new vehicle or proof of a
loan when they register their units.
Why the gradual implementation? With
more than 150,000 units nationwide
expected to reach the age limit by 2016,
manufacturers wont be able to keep up
with the demand.
Supply is an issue. The manufacturers
maximum output is 27,000 new units a
year, way less than the 200,000 current
fleet size of jeepneys nationwide. In
Metro Manila, it's about 60,000 jeepneys.
So what were trying to do is a phased
approach, Bonifacio said.
Financing is also another concern. The
agency is talking to banks to negotiate
flexible terms for jeep operators to obtain
loans, but theyre also studying the
option of buying back the old jeeps,
selling them for scrap value, and
providing P200,000 to banks as
downpayments for the jeepney
operators loans.
Fleet management
Phasing out of old jeeps is only one part
of the DOTCs modernization program.
The other component is figuring out how
to deploy the jeeps efficiently and
manage their operations.
Bonifacio said part of the fleet
management system that the
department is currently studying is a
common dispatch program, automated
fare collection system, and CCTV and
GPS systems in place.

We need to manage it because most of

the trips in Metro Manila are still served
by jeeps. To decongest the roads, we
need to synchronize the movement of
the jeeps, she said.

This also involves creating a route study

to match the demand for jeeps with
passengers travel patterns.

The last origin-destination survey was

done nearly a decade ago, in 1996. While
a new study has just been finished,
Bonifacio said it will take another year
before the department can mine the data
and translate it into a route study.

The information will also help the DOTC

determine whether old jeepney routes
need to be upgraded into bus routes to
accommodate more passengers.