MORATORIUM ON BUS FRANCHISE SOUGHT - CASTELO Rep. Winston Castelo today sought an indefinite moratorium on all bus franchises in Metro Manila, as its leaders seek solutions to the worsening traffic gridlock in the metropolis. In a statement, Castelo, chair of the House committee on Metro Manila Development, also sought a congressional review of previous bus franchise issuance, leading to the rationalization of bus routes to cover un-served and under-served areas in Metro Manila. The moratorium should lead to at least 50 percent reduction of buses in over-served bus routes like EDSA and Commonwealth Avenue and the deployment of the excess buses in un-served and under-served routes. Official data indicated that EDSA has a capacity for 1,800 buses, but now, it has more than 4,000 buses plying it. The rationalization could lead to a reasonable distribution of bus service in the metropolis, Castelo said. Castelo said the moratorium should be a prelude to the proposed series of multisectoral consultations and dialogs among Metro Manila political leaders, lawmakers, bus industry leaders, civil society, and the private sector to solve the gridlock, which is reported to have cost at least P150 billion in wasted man-hours yearly. The indefinite moratorium on all bus franchise issuance could be pivotal to evolve more lasting solutions to the traffic woes affecting Metro Manila, adding that it would put a stop to the unabated increase of buses plying Metro Manila. Also, the moratorium could lead to a more systematic issuance of bus franchises, as Congress takes a hard look on the power of the Land Transport Franchising Regulatory Board, the agency tasked to issue bus franchises. "The rationalization of all bus franchise issuance and consequent rationalization of bus routes could lead to the elimination of the so-called colorum,or franchise-less,buses in major routes and their deployment to other routes," Castelo said. "We have to evolve policies that would rationalize the deployment of buses in Metro Manila and solve the worsening traffic gridlock," Castelo said. #
Posted on: Sun, 28 Jul 2013 06:12:25 +0000
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