BACOLOD CITY – The Department of Transportation (DOTr) said that Bacolod City is among the five cities across the country selected to be the focus area of assessment for the implementation of the Public Transport Modernization Program (PTMP).
A week-long data gathering activity was conducted by the DOTr, starting on Monday, which aims to improve the PTMP in the city as well as making it a model city, alongside the cities of Mandaue, Antipolo, Baguio, and General Santos.
The DOTR team will study each route in the city, number of operators, whether there is an undersupply or oversupply unit in the route, and how best to implement the service plan.
“We will be pouring more resources to improve the state of public transportation modernization program here in Bacolod City,” DOTr Project Evaluation Officer IV Zion Yuson said.
Yuson explained that being a model city means “they want to perfect the model of the public transport modernization, address the problems faced by transport groups, and provide better mobility for commuter needs.”
He said that the past implementation of PTMP in the city is “not perfect,” with several issues that need improvement, something that they want to address and improve.
In addition, Clean Air Asia, a non-government organization, will assist the DOTr on how to improve and implement electric vehicles (EV) and electric jeepneys in the city.
The NGO said that they will be implementing the Accelerating the Adoption and Scale-up Electric Mobility for Low-Carbon City Development in the Philippines (E-Mobility ASAP).
“As part of the E-mobility ASAP project, we want to further expand the deployment of electric jeepneys in various cities and we’re starting here in Bacolod, that’s why we’re with DOTr,” Project coordinator of Clean Air Asia Drench Manido said.
He added that they will be pushing for an e-mobility ASAP project in the city, an initiative through the Department of Trade and Industry, Board of Investment, and United Nations Industrial Development Organization. (Theresa Mae Dulman via tvds)