LTFRB cracks down on S. Luzon buses

MANILA, Philippines - Provincial buses whose drivers will not end their route at the South Station in Alabang, Muntinlupa City will be apprehended starting at midnight tomorrow, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Chair Winston Ginez told The STAR Friday.

Ginez has issued an order to LTFRB executive director Roberto Cabrera III to implement a joint administrative order with the Land Transportation Office on the establishment of interim transport terminals (ITTs) for the loading and unloading of passengers by buses and Asian utility vehicles plying provincial routes entering Metro Manila, and their efficient transfer to city buses and AUVs.

The South ITT is for provincial buses and AUVs from southern Luzon and Bicol, entering via the South Luzon Expressway.

The Southwest ITT is for provincial buses and AUVs from provinces south of Metro Manila, entering via Coastal Road and Manila Cavite Expressway.

The North ITT is for buses and AUVs from provinces north of Metro Manila entering via the North Luzon Expressway, MacArthur Highway, Mindanao Avenue, Quirino Avenue and Commonwealth Avenue.

According to Ginez, he and Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Francis Tolentino agreed to implement the JAO on 236 provincial buses should their drivers try to enter Metro Manila.

This is part of the government’s rationalization of routes of provincial buses, which requires the modification of routes of these buses.

On the other hand, the MMDA said the North ITT will open next month, with authorities preparing a one-hectare private lot near the Bonifacio Monument in Caloocan City to serve as the interim north provincial bus terminal.

The terminal, said the MMDA, will serve as end-point for at least 376 provincial buses from northern Luzon in a bid to solve the perennial traffic congestion problem along EDSA.

Tolentino said the terminal is adjacent to a jeepney terminal on the eastern side and to the Light Rail Transit Line 1 and city buses on EDSA.

He said buses that will be using the terminal only be allowed up to Monumento and prohibited from crossing EDSA.

Tolentino clarified that the north and south bus terminals are just temporary terminals that will operate until permanent transport hubs are constructed.