New City Buses Launched in Support of PUV Modernization program

To further boost the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), in partnership with Durabus, launched a new set of modern public utility buses in Pasay City.

The modern buses boast of a lot of modern features that help make travel a lot more comfortable and convenient for each and every passenger.

Aside from being fully air-conditioned, the buses are equipped with generous legroom, reclining seats, ramps for persons with disability (PWDs), automatic fare collection system, CCTV monitoring, dashcam, and free Wi-Fi.

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Buses designed for long haul trips even have their own toilet, lavatory, and refrigerator. Behind the headrests, passengers get to enjoy personal entertainment sets loaded with up-to-date movies, music, games, and other forms of digital media.

All the buses also have a comparatively wider front and middle passenger doors than average buses, making ingress and egress a whole lot easier.

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DOTr Assistant Secretary for Road Transport Mark De Leon and LTFRB Chairman Martin Delgra III graced the launch event. De Leon said that the modern buses can be an effective measure in easing traffic congestion in the city.

“Metro buses currently plying in Metro Manila are not suited for city operations. Suited for city operations are low floor buses, wider body with multiple doors, for easy and faster loading and unloading, in effect they will not cause traffic obstruction,” De Leon explained.

Delgra said if there are safe and efficient PUVs, the public will choose it over bringing their private cars.

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“We don’t need more cars. We need more buses and we need more efficient public transport so people would prefer public transport over their private vehicles,” Delgra claimed.

The modern buses will also go a long way in improving the safety of the riding public, according to Delgra.

“The last three major accidents that we had involving buses resulted in multiple deaths and injuries, were all because of mechanical error, existing beyond serviceable years and most of them are not well-maintained,” he added.

“These accidents that happened show the fact that we need to modernize our public transportation system. We owe it to the public, particularly to the riding public, to provide safe and faster PUVs.” Delgra said. (PIA-NCR)