33% of Bohol towns fail to

craft local transport plans

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, June 22, (PIA) –The proliferation of expensive fares by habal-habal motorcycle service and the callous demand of operators of exorbitant fare rates may have been partly due to the local government unit’s failure to plan, and legislate for the Local Public Transport Route Plan (LPTRP).

Habal habal drivers, even when they are not really legally allowed to serve as public transport due to the risky nature of balancing two in wheeled vehicles, are the one’s plying routes to the town’s barangays, because the local law making council did not plan and legislate for an ordinance designating new routes and putting up fair tariff rates, explained public transport operators gathered at the Panda Tea Gardens to thresh out the messy transportation industry here.

Because there are no regular vehicles serving public transport along the routes, habal-habal and colorum vehicle operators make up their own tariff rates, which are often expensive.

Data from the Land Transport Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) who reviews and approves proposed new routes as soon as LGUs pass these said 33% of Bohol towns have failed to plan and put up the LPTRP.

LPTRP is basically a detailed local route network plan with specific modes of transportation serving the route depending of the type of road, the density of the riding public to be served and the required number of units per mode assigned to each route delivering public transport services.

LPTRP becomes the basis in the minimum requirements prescribed for the issuance of public utility vehicle franchises, explains LTFRB Technical Development Officer Dondon Ibo, during the Transport Forum organized by Governor Erico Aristotle Aumentado through the Bohol Provincial Tourism Office.

Without the LPTRP, the LTFRB can not issue franchises for new vehicles, considering also that established routes have already been saturated and that issuing new franchises can mean loses to operators.

Ibo said local government units who do their local level public transport by participatory planning bids well as LGUs are in a better position to identify local public transport service requirements, them being the ones crafting their Comprehensive Local Use Plans and Traffic management plans.

By participatory planning, LGUS can make more routes responsive to passenger demands and determines the appropriate vehicle type depending on the road hierarchy and configuration, he continued.

For routes within the municipality, it is the town who should do it, and for routes that traverse the towns and through its neighboring province, the provincial government crafts the LPTRP.

On the other hand, for inter-provincial and inter regional routes, between and among independent cities and inter-city in the Metro Manila areas and adjoining provinces, it is the Department of Transportation’s responsibility to craft the plan.

This draft LPTRP is then submitted to the LTFRB for review to its compliance with the Omnibus Franchising Guidelines, of which the LTFRB can issue Notice of Compliance or Notice of Non Compliance, depending on the results of the submitted LPTRP for review.

When a Notice of Compliance is issued by the LTFRB, the LGU submitting the plan then passes an ordinance adopting the LPTRP. As soon as this is done, the LTFRB then conducts a transparent operator selection as to who will serve the route and issues the franchise.

For Bohol however, as of June 6, 2023, Ibo said only 67% of LGUs have submitted their route plans: Panglao, Daius, Tagbilaran City, Baclayon, Albutquerque, Loboc, Sevilla, Loay Lila, Dimiao, Valencia, Garcia Hernandez, Jagna, Duero, Guindulman Candijay and Pilar.

On the northern route, Maribojoc, Calape, San Isidro, Tubigon, Buenavista, Trinidad, Bien Unido, Ubay and President Carlos P. Garcia along with central routes Batuan, Carmen, Sagbayan, Dagohoy and San Miguel completing the list.

Sikatuna and Danao LPTRPs are now under review, while Alburquerque, Maribojoc, San Isidro, Carmen, and Dagohoy are for COC issuance.

The rest are under revision. (PIA-7/Bohol)

NO FRANCHISES FOR UNESTABLISHED ROUTES. LTFRB Technical development officer Dondon Ibo explained that their office can not issue franchises to routes that have not been designated by their LGUs as opened, and operators can not apply for these routes without the local lawmaking body adopting the route plan. (PIAbohol)