ILOILO City – The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) is working toward approving Iloilo province’s Local Public Transport Route Plan (LPTRP) within this year.
Engr. Joshua Gaquit, Transportation Development Officer II of LTFRB Region 6, told Panay News they are also optimistic about the provincial government conducting a dry run of its LPTRP within the same year.
“We anticipate the approval and implementation of the LPTRP within this year. In our recent meeting, the provincial government expressed a strong commitment to conducting a dry run within the year,” said Gaquit.
Meanwhile, Iloilo City has already initiated preparations for the seamless implementation of its enhanced LPTRP by year-end.
On Aug. 29, the city government received operational guidelines for the LPTRP through Memorandum Circular (MC) No. 2023-036, issued by LTFRB Chairman Atty. Toefilo E. Guadiz III.
The city’s enhanced LPTRP encompasses 17 rationalized routes, one enhanced new/developmental route, and seven new/developmental routes. In contrast, the province’s transport route plan comprises 67 rationalized routes and eight new or developmental routes.
Upon approval of the city’s enhanced LPTRP, Gaquit emphasized the significance of conducting a dry run for the province’s transport route plan, particularly for the routes serviced by the “first towns” jeepneys, which include Leganes, Pavia, San Miguel, and Oton.
“It is essential to conduct testing to prevent conflicts in the allocation of units for the city’s approved LPTRP routes since the province’s routes have an impact on those of the city. The Department of Transportation (DOTr) encourages simultaneous implementation of the city’s enhanced LPTRP and the Iloilo province’s dry run to ensure alignment of their route plans,” Gaquit added.
He also stressed that the provincial government should establish its workforce, including surveyors, to study and gather data during the dry run to determine the required number of modernized jeepneys.
“The task is comprehensive, extending beyond a simple dry run. LTFRB-6 will provide technical assistance during the dry run, especially in conducting surveys,” he explained.
He further mentioned that each route’s dry run is estimated to take approximately two weeks.
“Our goal is to accurately determine the number of viable units for our routes because over-proposing could negatively impact the city’s viability. We want to avoid any under-supply that could inconvenience passengers,” he concluded./PN