Commuter-friendly transport pushed By Macon Ramos-Araneta | Aug. - TopicsExpress

Commuter-friendly transport pushed By Macon Ramos-Araneta | Aug. 25, 2014 SENATOR Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos has called on government officials to require transport firms to raise the bar of safety to prevent a recurrence of mishaps, the latest of which involved MRT coaches that derailed and caused injuries to 40 passengers. “Maintenance is key towards lessening tragic accidents, such as the one which happened when an MRT coach derailed,” said Marcos. Building more commuter-friendly infrastructure should be part of the business requirements for every carrier or transport services, Marcos said. “Let us be mindful of the safety, security and convenience of Filipino commuters. Our entire system should be designed and built with the safety of our commuters at the foremost consideration,” he said. “This should serve as a warning to us, especially to the DOTC that if we don’t improve, if we don’t enhance safety and security features of our systems, if we don’t do regular maintenance and safety checks, expect our system to break anytime soon.” Also said Marcos. Marcos proposed the imposition of fines on transport utility firms and carriers who do not regularly maintain their units according to the standards of care that government regulators require. Transport firms who will build commuter-friendly terminals should be given incentives by the government too. He also called on his colleagues to review, update or repeal certain transportation laws and merge them into a Code of Transportation and Commuter Safety to boost the safety and welfare of commuters and passengers. He noted that the current laws on transportation are mostly regulations for land, air and sea transport sectors. “Our current transportation laws are meant as regulations to carriers and transport sectors. These are mostly directed at businesses,” he said. “How about the ordinary commuter? What kinds of safeguards does the government give them? What rights do they have as commuters?” he asked. He said it is about time to review the provisions of the New Civil Code of the Philippines pertaining to commuters. The provisions for the safety of commuters are expressed in Articles 1755 to 1763 of the New Civil Code of the Philippines. However, these provisions are not enough to really safeguard commuters especially when they are using public transportation. “It is time to gather these provisions that contains specific legal provisions expressing commuters’ rights, and safety measures to be undertaken by the carrier or transport company for commuters and put them in a separate Code,” said the Ilocano lawmaker. He said the commuter rights should be expanded. Measures should be created towards improving public transport infrastructure to be more “commuter-friendly.” Apart from building a commuter-friendly infrastructures, he cited the need for laws that would improve maintenance services and provide for crisis preparedness protocols. manilastandardtoday/2014/08/25/commuter-friendly-transport-pushed/