MANILA – Point-to-point (P2P) buses will be increasing their trips starting next week to provide passengers of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) an alternative mode of transport.
During their meeting with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Wednesday afternoon, bus operators agreed that P2P buses will have trips in the morning and afternoon rush hours.
“Sixty buses is the target doing two trips every day,” LTFRB board member Aileen Lizada said in a text message to reporters Thursday.
The operators have committed to complete two trips in the morning rush hour and one trip in the afternoon rush hour.
For the morning rush hour, buses will still pick up MRT passengers at the North Ave. and Quezon Ave. stations but they will now be making a second trip so that more passengers may avail of the service.
Participating operators will be allowed to operate P2P buses from their garage to a staging area in North Ave. provided they arrive at 5 a.m.
During the afternoon rush hour, buses will pick up passengers either at Taft Ave. or Ayala Ave. with drop-off points at Shaw, Cubao and North Ave. stations.
The DOTr is eyeing Macapagal Ave. in Paranaque City as a possible staging area for these buses.
Data from the department show that as of Feb. 13, a total of 389 buses made 521 trips and served 28,825 passengers since the MRT-3 bus augmentation project started last Feb. 1.
The deployment of the P2P buses during the morning rush hour has provided an effective option for MRT-3 passengers while there are limited train sets running on the train system.
“The bus augmentation program for MRT-3 is a fine example of multi-sector and multi-agency cooperation to realize our common goal of improving public service,” according to DOTr Undersecretary for Railways Timothy John Batan.
Batan cited the LTFRB, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), Land Transportation Office (LTO), Philippine National Police Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG), DOTr Office of Commuter Affairs, and MRT officials and personnel for implementing initiatives to enable people to move faster to their destinations.
The DOTr sees MRT operations would improve once the general overhaul of trains is concluded after the Holy Week break and with the increase in the number of running trains due to the arrival of spare parts.
The DOTr has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Canadian firm Bombardier for the procurement of the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) of the signaling spare parts and signaling maintenance for MRT-3.
Under the MOU, the department will procure OEM signaling spare parts and two-year signaling maintenance contract from Bombardier via direct contracting and emergency procurement, pursuant to the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 9184, otherwise known as the Government Procurement Reform Act. (PNA)
