THE Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) announced it will open public utility vehicle (PUV) routes that will serve regular commuters of the Philippine National Railways (PNR) who will be affected by the closure of PNR stations due to the construction of the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR).
The construction of the NSCR, a 147-kilometer urban railway network that is eyed to connect Metro Manila to Pampanga and Laguna, will last approximately five (5) years or until 2028, and is seen to affect the travel of around 30,000 commuters daily.
Under Memorandum Circular No. 2023-020, the LTFRB, through its Franchise Planning and Monitoring Division (FPMD), and together with the PNR, identified three (3) routes that will service the PNR stations to be affected by the closure.
The three (3) routes that the LTFRB opened for qualification process were FTI-Divisoria via East Service Road and Alabang (Starmall) – Divisoria via the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) for Public Utility Buses (PUBs), and Malabon-Divisoria, which will be serviced by Modern Public Utility Jeepneys (MPUJs).
A total of 30 PUB units will ply the FTI-Divisoria route, 25 PUBs for Alabang (Starmall) – Divisoria, and five (5) MPUJs for Malabon-Divisoria. However, “the number of units may be modified accordingly depending on passenger demand,” the memorandum said.
In selecting the operators, the memorandum said Memorandum Circular No. 2019-013 (“Consolidated Guidelines on the Process of Issuance of Certificate of Public Convenience (CPC) and Provisional Authority (PA)/Special Permit (SP) Under the Omnibus Franchising Guidelines and Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP))” shall govern the selection process.
According to the memorandum, the units authorized to operate should not be more than five (5) years old based on the vehicle’s Certificate of Registration with the Land Transportation Office (LTO), should operate under an SP for one (1) year and renewable every year thereafter, or until the NSCR is fully operational, while the existing fare for city buses as authorized by the LTFRB shall be applied.
“The effect of the closure of these select PNR stations on commuters will be quite substantial so through these PUV routes, we hope to lessen the impact of the closure. We appreciate the help of the PNR in identifying the routes, and we know that once the NSCR is completed, its benefits would be truly worth it in terms of passenger mobility along our railways, which is regarded as one of the most convenient and affordable modes of public transportation in the country,” says LTFRB Chairman Teofilo Guadiz III.
