Consolidated jeepney operators plan ‘action’ if PUVMP suspended – DOTr

Public utility jeepney operators who met the government’s consolidation deadline are planning a series of protest actions if the implementation of the PUV Modernization Program (PUVMP) is suspended, a senior Department of Transportation (DOTr) official said on Tuesday.

In an interview on PTV’s Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon, Andy Ortega, undersecretary for road transport and infrastructure in India’s Ministry of Transport, said transport cooperatives and companies expressed a mixture of sadness and anger over a Senate resolution that seeks to postpone the implementation of the PUVMP.

“They feel that they are the majority, and that is the case. And they feel that they have embraced the program from the beginning (and they know it will prevail). They have invested a lot of time and money in the program because they believe in the government’s program,” Ortega said.

“That is why they, as well as the transport cooperatives and the corporations (both the transport cooperatives and the corporations), are now planning a series of measures,” he said.

Ortega said that by the April 30 deadline, about 83% of PUV operators had merged into cooperatives or companies.

“On the part of the DOTr, we are preparing our response, a letter for the senator to clarify (to clarify and inform the senators of the real status of our program). is the Public Transportation Modernization Program,” he said.

After the consolidation phase, the DOTr official said, the government is now working on its Public Transport Route Plan (LPTRP), the route rationalization component of the PUVMP.

Ortega said the LPTRP will determine the appropriate number of units to serve a particular route.

“Hopefully completed by 2026 so that the Pilipinas can complete their second phase of the program… (so that we can complete the second phase of the) LPTRP or route rationalization,” he said.

“The next phase will be to purchase modern vehicles,” he added.

Launched in 2017, the PUVMP aims to replace jeepneys with vehicles with at least Euro 4 compliant engines to reduce pollution and replace PUVs that were not roadworthy according to the Land Transportation Office’s standards.

The program required jeepney drivers and operators to join or form cooperatives. They could also apply for new concessions, but as part of transportation cooperatives.—AOL, GMA Integrated News