Hike in PUV capacity needed as more businesses open: DOTr

MANILA – An official of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Wednesday said the decision to increase the maximum capacity of public utility vehicles (PUV) was based on medical studies and would address the demand for public transportation.

In a virtual briefing, DOTr Assistant Secretary Goddes Hope Libiran said the pilot implementation of the 70 percent increase in the maximum passenger capacity of PUVs in Metro Manila was made as more businesses are reopening.

“Kinakailangan yung public transport supply ay magKo-compensate dun sa actual demand (Public transport supply needs to compensate for the actual demand),” Libiran said.

She said the increase in capacity, which would roll out across Metro Manila beginning Thursday, was based on “various medical studies,” one of which showed that only 1.2 percent of Covid-19 clusters were linked to public land, air, and sea transport.

She said the study, released by the International Association of Public Transport in 2020 and was based on data collected in Germany, noted that there is only a 0.01 percent chance of contracting Covid-19 in public transportation and further decreased to a 0.005 percent risk with face coverings such as face masks and shields.

Moreover, she said the DOTr has conducted a “rapid analysis” based on the seven-day average per million population and the transport capacity of 10 countries — Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, China, Australia, Vietnam, and Malaysia.

“It was found out that transport capacity has no significant correlation with the number of Covid-19 cases,” Libiran said.

Another reason for the increase, she said, was Metro Manila’s high vaccination rate at about 85 percent of the target population.

“Evidence suggests that a high vaccination rate prompts an increase in public transport capacity. That is the very reason why the DOTr and even the IATF-EID approved yung ating (our) pilot implementation nitong ating (of the) increase in public transport capacity,” Libiran said.

Earlier, the DOTr announced that PUVs operating in Metro Manila and nearby provinces will have increased passenger capacity from 50 percent to 70 percent as Covid-19 cases continue to decline.

In addition, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has lifted the requirement for plastic barriers inside public utility jeepneys nationwide.