Ban on 15-year-old PUJs: 54% will be affected

CEBU, Philippines - More than half of the total number of public utility jeepneys (PUJs) in Cebu will be affected once the ban on 15-year-old jeepneys will be implemented.

Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB)-7 Regional Director Ahmed Cuizon said that there is a plan but the start of its implementation is not clear yet.

Cuizon said the plan is still under study as majority of the PUJs in Central Visayas will be affected with the implementation of  the ban on 15-year-old PUJs.

LTFRB-7 records officer Ruperto Zamora Jr. revealed that of the 15,165 total number of PUJs in Central Visayas, 70% or 10,615 PUJs are running in Cebu.

With the estimated total number of PUJs in Cebu, 54% or 573,237 PUJs are 15 years old and above and will be affected once the ban will be imposed.

The ban on 15-year-old buses is part of LTFRB’s modernization program.

Under the said program, all passenger buses and vans 15 years and older will be phased out while taxis running for 12 to 15 years will also suffer the same fate, in order to safeguard passengers’ lives.

They will no longer renew the registration of buses that are more than 15 years starting September this year.

Buses bearing plate numbers ending with “9” only have until September while those bearing plate numbers ending with “0” only have until October to ply their routes.

Cuizon said there are 1,460 buses in Central Visayas and 70% or 1,022 of these are in Cebu and out of the total buses in the region, 40% or 584 of these are already 15 years old or older.  (FREEMAN)