Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Overview
Passenger transport in the Philippines is regulated through franchises issued by central government Department of Transport and Communications
(DOTC) and its agencies.
The primary urban passenger transport mode is the Public Utility Jeepney (PUJ). This is typically a 16-seater converted US Jeep. Outside of Metro
Manila this is the sole urban passenger transport mode.
The PUJ industry is fragmented consisting of a high percentage of single owner operators. Membership associations exist but are not wholly
subscribed to and offer little more than administrative functions.
DOTC seeks to achieve increasing efficiency in the provision of passenger transport. Its first focus is on regional services (more often run by larger
companies). Thereafter, increasing levels of control and organization would be applied to urban transport first in Metro Manila.
During 2011, regional services centered upon Manila are being fitted with GPS to enable operators to locate vehicles operating over long distances.
DOTC propose to assist Manila-based urban PUJ owners to fit GPS devices so that PUJs can be monitored. Current plans include cash incentives to
owners. It is planned that information will be collected centrally by DOTC and information made available to owner/operators.
In the medium term, this information will be used to restructure the PUJ network as route franchises come up for renewal. In the longer term, this
information might be linked to an area wide traffic control system.
Urban transport fares are cash based. There is no electronic information and basic static information. There is currently no fleet control.
The development of a BRT in Cebu has provided an information base from which to work and an ability to explore means by which the passenger
transport network can be reorganized to achieve efficiency gains.
The Cebu BRT Pre-Feasibility Study (2010) identified the need for ITS solutions for operational management, payment and co-ordination with the
City’s urban traffic control system (SCATS). It is estimated that the BRT will be operational by 2014.
The World Bank is progressing with a study (expected late-2011) that demonstrates the use of low cost mobile vehicle tracking systems in Cebu. This
study could provide transport regulators and operators with a low-cost means to improve the performance of informal sector Jeepney fleets and
provide traffic engineers with a low cost means of managing road assets and mitigating traffic congestion.
Scope
The focus of this case study is the public sector, both central and local government, coming together in some form to achieve the intention/desire to pursue
collective provision of public transport in order to increase operational efficiency and level of service. This will seek to protect public transport mode share
and in turn manage congestion to meet environmental, economic and social objectives.
Cebu City
Cebu is the Philippines second City, it sits within a large metropolitan area for which it provides a focus for employment, retail and education. Metro Cebu is
a loosely defined term that relates to the conglomeration of several adjacent cities and municipalities that form the urban area of Cebu Province. It is the
principal urban settlement of the Central Visayas Region (Region VII) dominating the region’s urban structure. Metro Cebu as a level of governance does not
yet officially or legally exist.
The country’s road-based public transport system consists of the following basic components:
The functions and responsibilities involved are done either by the government or the private sector. Generally, the government/private sector responsibilities
are described as:
At present, both the LTFRB and the LTO are under the administrative control and supervision of the DOTC, as line agencies. This means that DOTC issues
policy guidelines for these two agencies to follow in the performance of their respective functions.
Both these agencies have regional presence. There are regional offices of these agencies in Region 7, to which Cebu City belongs. Being the primary City
in the region, the regional offices are physically located in Cebu City, with administrative jurisdiction over the region.
a. To prescribe and regulate routes of service, economically viable capacities and areas of operation of public land transport services in accordance with
DOTC transport plans and programs
b. To issue, amend, revise, suspend or cancel Certificate of Public Convenience (CPC) or Franchise authorising the operation of public land transport
services and prescribe appropriate terms and conditions thereof
c. To determine, prescribe, approve and periodically review and adjust reasonable fares, rates or charges related to the operation of public land transport
services
d. To conduct investigations and hearings of complaints for violation of franchising laws and to impose corresponding fines and/or penalties for such
violations
e. To formulate, promulgate, administer, implement and enforce rules and regulations on public land transport services and facilities
f. To coordinate and cooperate with the other government agencies and entities concerned with any aspect involving public land transportation services.
The above functions indicate the authority of LTFRB over public land transport services in terms of:
b. Issuance of CPC (or franchise) to entities worthy to be public transport operators with corresponding franchising terms and conditions
e. Promulgation and enforcement of rules and regulations pertaining to public transport service operations
In line with the above authority, the LTFRB supervises and monitors public land transport service operations and can call on public transport operators to
follow its prescribed rules and regulations with the end view of providing the general public with efficient and safe public transport services. In exercising its
authority, LTFRB issues from time to time Memorandum Circulars (MCs) regarding implementation details of specific regulations for the guidance of all
concerned, especially public transport operators and government regulatory and enforcement personnel. These MCs are in accordance with DOTC policy
guidelines and the basic franchising laws.
As provided for in EO 546, in 1976, the then BLT was tasked to perform the regulatory and enforcement functions of the LTC (the previous name of the
agency), including the registration of the public utility vehicles (PUVs) and the enforcement of the decisions of the then BOT with regards to PUVs. The said
regulatory and enforcement functions of the LTC as provided for in RA 4136 are basically the following: (a) Registration of motor vehicles, (b) operation of
motor vehicles, particularly on licensing to drive motor vehicles, use of license plates, carriage of passengers and freight and motor vehicle accessories and
(c) enforcement of traffic rules.
In connection with the above functions, the LTO is also tasked to:
a. Establish and prescribe rules and regulations for the inspection and registration of motor vehicles
b. Establish and prescribe the corresponding rules and regulations for issuance of licenses to qualified motor vehicle drivers and conductors
c. Establish and prescribe the corresponding rules and regulations for the enforcement of laws governing land transportation, including the penalties
for violations thereof, and for the deputisation of appropriate law enforcement agencies in pursuance thereof
d. Establish and prescribe rules and regulations procedure and standards for the accreditation of driving schools.
For Cebu City, traffic management regulation is carried out by one of its departments- the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (CITOM).
A city ordinance upgrading CITOM into a city department was passed in June 2010 creating the Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO). Having it
departmentalized means that the traffic office could now afford to have more personnel for their operations and its functions and its power has been
broadened to include transportation planning, among other functions. There is a 2-year transition period from the passing of the ordinance to the full
transformation of the CITOM into the CCTO.
The new CCTO will have five divisions - the transportation planning division, the transportation engineering division, the public mass transportation division,
the traffic enforcement and parking operations division and the support services division. The transportation planning division will be responsible for
planning, designing, monitoring and evaluation, traffic education and management of information systems. The transportation engineering division will be
responsible for the implementation of all traffic and transportation-related projects, programs, measure, schemes and policies of the city. The public mass
transportation division is tasked to implement mass transportation projects and all matters related to mass transportation. For traffic enforcement, mobile
operations, parking operations, special task actions, communication, billing and collection, the traffic enforcement and parking operations division will be in
charge. The support services division will be responsible for the performance of basic administrative functions such as preparing the budget, payroll,
correspondence, procurement and handling of office supplies. It will also act as custodian of major traffic signal spare parts, traffic signs, thermoplastic and
painting materials.
Though the city ordinance’s creation of the CCTO has been approved, the actual and full transformation of the CITOM has yet to take place, but is expected
to be complete by the middle of 2012. In the meantime, the CITOM functions according to its original mandate of traffic enforcement and management in the
City as part of the CCTO.
The CITOM/CCTO focuses primarily upon enforcement and management of traffic control assets such as the SCATS system which controls the majority of
the City’s traffic signals. Responsibility for transport planning and more active transport management to improve the performance of the transport network
lies mainly with the national government through the Department of Transport and Communications (DOTC) and the Department of Public Works &
Highways for national road network development and this planning function is remote and has been, historically, exercised with the lightest of touches. The
upgrading of the CITOM into the CCTO aims to address this long-prevailing issue.
The City has been amending the routes of PUJ in coordination with its traffic management schemes through enactment of local ordinances on “travel lines”
for public utility vehicles operating in Cebu City. City Ordinance No. 2000 passed in May 2004 and amending City Ordinance No. 1320, otherwise known as
“an ordinance regulating the operation of PUJs within the City of Cebu, as amended”, requires PUJ operators/drivers to secure a travel line certificate from
CITOM. The certificate contains the official route that the PUJ is allowed to ply. It shall be renewed annually and drivers are required to have them in their
possession when they ply their routes. In this set-up, Cebu City can make recommendations on the routes that will be regulated by the LTFRB.
Routes of PUJs operating in Cebu City total around 118 based on City Ordinance No. 2000 (dated May 2004 and amended by City Ordinance No. 2148
dated June 2008).
These routes are numbered from 01 to 65, with variants per route number designated by a number-letter combination. PUJ drivers/operators are required to
prominently display the route numbers on their vehicles, for the convenience of the riding public.
Current PUJ operations are done on a free-for-all basis, with few rules.
Operations are basically individualised, subject to the decision and judgment call
of the individual driver/operator as long as they ply along the prescribed route.
PUJ drivers have been likened to fishermen who go out into sea (to their
assigned route) and “fish” for passengers.
PUJs receive a franchise from LTFRB to operate on a specific route. When they
operate, they are required to stick to the routing specified in the franchise
document, and to operate from end-to-end. Trip-cutting is a violation. Other than
that, it is up to the individual operators/drivers to decide when they field their
units (which days, what hours, how long). Operations are not on an integrated,
systematised manner.
MCBOA (Metro Cebu Bus Operators Association) and CPBOA (Cebu Provincial Bus Operators Association) are associations of bus operators in Cebu, all
provincial but many of which operate to/from Cebu City. Collectively they have less than 500 units.
Ceres Liner is a major company with bus operations throughout the Philippines. It has about 2,000 units in total, and is the largest bus operator in the
Philippines (Victory Liner has about 900 units). Although present across the Philippines, Ceres Liner does not currently operate urban bus services in major
cities. They operate provincial services, including those to and from Manila.
Ceres Liner was established in Cebu several years ago and has since grown and acquired some of the existing operators and franchises. They currently
have a fleet of about 200 buses based in the Cebu operations, which includes both services on the island and services to Negros and even Bacolod via
RORO. They have a range of bus sizes ranging from 54 seater down to 30+ seater.
Ceres Liner owns all of the buses it uses. It purchases about 100 buses per year. Ceres also has a bus-building facility located outside Cebu in Bacolod.
DOTC
Mission
To provide the country with efficient, effective and secure transportation systems that are globally competitive, compliant with international standards and
responsive to the changing time.
1. One, we have confronted the challenge of weeding out graft in public office – and thus declared in no uncertain terms that the Department will
establish a level-playing field in utmost transparency – which consistently applies to DOTC projects and transactions, big or small.
2. We have confronted the challenge of cleaning up a huge inventory of projects that were “tainted” with corruption – those that went against the basic
rules of fairness and honesty, or those that militated against the greater interest of our country and people.
3. We have seized the opportunity to create and assemble a new management team that shares the vision and ethical standards of the new
government – and thus replaced most officials who were either co-architects of ruinous transactions in the past or those that do not share our
President’s vision.
4. We embraced the opportunity to lay the foundation and set the tone for a new transport universe– rejecting projects and programs that do not fit our
overall goals, while keeping those that still show potential. We began realigning such projects that effectively mesh with a coherent, integrated,
modern and efficient transport system – bound by the higher logic and imperative of making such projects serve our people’s needs and aspirations.
The LTO envisions a well-developed transportation system that will play a vital role in improving the quality of life of the Filipino people, particularly in
providing a more viable means of land transport and a secured travel for transport users and commuters.
Mission
To rationalize the land transportation service and facilities and to implement effectively the various transportation laws, rules and regulations.
World-class land transportation services contributing to the over-all development of the country, improvement of the socio-economic status of its
stakeholders, and promotion of the welfare of the general public.
Mission
World-class land transportation services contributing to the over-all development of the country, improvement of the socio-economic status of its
stakeholders, and promotion of the welfare of the general public.
The BRT proposal for Cebu was initiated by former Mayor and now Congressman, Thomas Osmeña. It is supported by current Mayor Rama.
Cebu BRT
The Cebu BRT pilot route was defined in conceptual and geographic terms through a Pre-Feasibility Study reporting in 2010. The study included operational
management requirement, the need to achieve priority through signalised junctions and the desire for electronic ticketing. A further full feasibility and
detailed design study is programmed for 2011/12 which will investigate and define these aspects of system provision further.
The World Bank and Cebu City Government, with support from the AusAid and the Korea ICT4D trust funds, have developed a demonstration program
with the following three pilot applications of ICT to support better transport system planning and management:
Application #1 – Using GPS-Enabled Mobile Phones Distributed to Taxis to Support Traffic Data Collection and Dispatch.
Under this component, in collaboration with the Metro Cebu Taxi Operator Association, GPS-enabled phones will be distributed to a sample of taxis. By
tracking vehicles’ travel speed and location, the following parameters can be derived temporally and spatially:
As an incentive for taxi companies to participate, the Program will provide a visual interface for the participating taxi operators -- vehicle locations for use in
dispatch.
This application pilots the use of crowd-sourcing to support a 311-type platform. For this demonstration, the Cebu City Government (CCG) has selected a
focal topic that: 1) is of concern to both the CCG and the citizenry; 2) affects transport network energy efficiency; 3) is a topic that is within control of
participating CCG departments; and 4) is readily “mappable”. To this end, the Project will provide a user-based crowd-sourcing interface for the Cebu City
Transportation Office (CCTO) and the Department of Public Works that residents can use to report on potholes and missing signs and receive feedback.
This application will include significant capacity building – developing institutional processes for receiving and responding to reports from citizens, as well as
providing sufficient training that the City would be able to adjust and expand the system on their own.
Application #3: Using Mobile Phones to Support Jeepney Data Collection and Dispatch
As Cebu prepares for the development of the country’s first bus rapid transit (BRT) system, the City is seeking means to integrate the existing informal
transit system into the formal BRT system as feeder routes – with particular emphasis on a slow, step-by-step approach. To this end, the City seeks to pilot
crowd-sourcing data collection methodologies as a means to establish a low-cost yet robust dispatch system, as well as to support a more transparent
market for routes. The Program will provide GPS-enabled phones to drivers on a select pilot route, as well as a visual interface for piloting a dispatch
system. This system would by supported by manual street-side data collection activities facilitated by use of mobile phone-based forms.
The World Bank is currently seeking to assess the potential of mobile capture data devices to gain information on road network performance. This will
centre, initially, upon taxi and PUJ drivers. The goal is to provide local transport planners with a low-cost, simple means to collect real time travel time and
road condition data, which can be used to more effectively manage road assets, mitigate traffic congestion, and manage mass transport fleets.