ILOILO City – The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has approved the enhanced Local Public Transport Route Plan (LPTRP) of this southern city.
Mayor Jerry P. Treñas welcomed the approval, saying the LPTRP will make public transport more readily available to everyone.
“I am very happy. Once it is officially released to the city, we will immediately implement the same,” the city mayor said yesterday.
The approved enhanced route plan is yet to be officially turned over by the DOTr to the city government.
The original route plan was suspended last year following adverse public reactions to the inconveniences it brought. Modifications were subsequently proposed to the traffic plan, subject to the approval of the DOTr and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).
Earlier, Public Safety and Transportation Management Office (PSTMO) head Jeck Conlu said they were eyeing to implement the enhanced route plan by the first quarter of this year.
Prior to this, as instructed by the city mayor, the PSTMO will conduct a month-long information dissemination about the enhanced LPTRP.
“Ma-conduct kita massive information dissemination. It means to say nga mabalik kita gihapon sa ginkadtuan naton (during consultations) kag ipahibalo sila nga na-approve na to ang gin-discuss naton sa ila,” Conlu said.
The PSTMO head said they were also hoping the LPTRP approval will coincide with the Iloilo province’s route plan approval so that both the commuters from the city and province will simultaneously adjust once implemented.
As of the last week of December 2022, 241 modernized jeepneys were operating in different routes in the city.
Early this year, 500 more modernized jeepney were delivered.
Before this year ends, the total target for Iloilo City routes is 1,767 modernized jeepneys.
The enhanced route plan of the city has 25 routes, most of which are currently being operated./PN
