By Jedd Francis De Luna
Passengers approve it; bus drivers reject it.
This is the term that the bus drivers and conductors of the “Express Connect” buses – a one-month test project of the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC), along with the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) – used to describe the operation days after its launch last March 23.
Even though the buses were promoted to be faster in means of transportation which would reduce travel time by around 30 minutes, according to the MMDA, bus transport workers seem to doubt whether the operation would also benefit them.
“The biggest number of passengers we had today was during the noontime rush hour. We only has 20 passengers on the way to Ayala, then just one way back,” said Express bus conductor Jay Parisan, in a report from Jaymee Gamil of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Parisan added in the article that he usually makes P500 to P1000 daily, but now his income per day won’t even reach P300 because of fewer passengers that ride on board.
A bus driver from a different express bus said that he only got a tenth of his regular income compared to when he was driving a regular city bus, in a report from GMA.
The report added that because of this, many bus drivers are requesting to add more stops, especially in crowded areas.
The pilot test will run for a month and will operate with 50 buses – recognizable through the “E” stickers posted on their windshields – on a daily basis from 4AM to 10PM and will run on three different routes: Route E1 will be from Fairview-Ortigas-Ayala Avenue-Roxas Boulevard (in the Cultural Center of the Philippines parking area) with six stops in between with 20 bus units), Route E2 will be from Fairview-Ayala Avenue-Roxas Boulevard (in the Cultural Center of the Philippines parking area) with 4 stops in between with 10 bus units, and Route E3 will be from Fairview-Ayala MRT Station-SM Mall of Asia (MOA) with 3 stops in between with 20 bus units.
According to MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino, the “express connect” buses will be allowed to use flyovers and underpasses as well as the traffic lanes, and LTFRB Chairman Winston Ginez added that the buses will also be installed with GPS, CCTV cameras for monitoring, and free wi-fi on-board.
The fares for the buses will be the same as ones charged by the regular air conditioned buses in the metro.
LTFRB plans to scrap some stopovers
LTFRB on the other hand is currently debating whether the Mall of Asia pick-up and drop-off point should be scrapped due to only a few passengers board the bus at that location, according to LTFRB Chairman Ginez in a report from The Philippine Star.
He said that the LTFRB wanted to make sure that both passengers and drivers & operators will benefit the project because at present, the project only benefits the passengers.
Netizens spark its pros and cons for “express connect” services
Days even before the “express connect” service launched, netizens on Twitter already expressed their reactions on this latest DOTC project.
Here are some of the positive remarks about the project:
And here are the not-so positive remarks about it:
ON THE LOOKOUT 