LTFRB urged: Expedite return of pre-pandemic routes to avoid student commuter crisis

This file photo shows a barker of a jeepney in Metro Manila.

STAR / Miguel de Guzman, file

MANILA, Philippines — Allowing more public utility vehicles to ply their pre-pandemic routeswould alleviate the commuter crisis ahead of the return to face-to-face classes for millions of students in Metro Manila, a lawmaker urged the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board on Wednesday.

Much of public transportation was shuttered in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic in an effort to cut off possible transmission of the pathogen. But with the capital region under Alert Level 1, many of those same routes remain unserved to this day, which transport and commuter groups say severely cripple the existing public transport supply. 

In a statement sent to reporters, Sen. Grace Poe said doing so was "a viable solution to avert a commuter pandemonium when majority of the 28 million students, mixed with millions more workers, go out on the streets for a ride to their destinations and back home."

Full Story: https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2022/07/20/2196767/ltfrb-urged-expedite-return-pre-pandemic-routes-avoid-student-commuter-crisis