Check the consolidation status of your

jeepney, UV Express route

JAN 23, 2024 6:20 PM PHT
LANCE SPENCER YU
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INFO
(1st UPDATE) The deadline for PUVs to consolidate has been extended until April 30,
2024. This database shows the status of jeepney and UV Express routes as of December
31, 2023.

MANILA, Philippines – Caving in to pressure, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has granted
a “final extension” for operators of public utility vehicles (PUVs) to consolidate.

Prior to the new April 30 deadline, more than 1,900 jeepney and UV Express
routes risked being wiped out nationwide by February 1. Under a Land Transportation
Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) memorandum circular, jeepneys that failed to
consolidate before the deadline of December 31, 2023, had only until January 31 to ply certain
routes, including those with low consolidation rates.

But there were also some routes where none of the jeepneys or UV Express units plying them
formed a cooperative or corporation. Based on LTFRB data, 395 jeepney routes in Metro
Manila have no consolidated entities, along with 108 routes for UV Express. Nationwide, the
number of PUV routes without consolidated entities reaches 1,948. What happens to these
routes?

Before the extension, this meant that legally, those routes were supposed to have no more trips
by February 1 unless other consolidated PUVs were pulled in to serve them, or the PUVs
originally under that route continued to ply them as “colorum” vehicles.

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However, the government clarified now that unconsolidated PUVs will still be allowed to ply
their routes by February in light of the extended deadline. The LTFRB, however, has yet to
release an updated memorandum on how it will implement the extension.

Even with the new deadline granted, transportation officials were firm that operators must
consolidate if they want to keep their routes. This extension will serve as a last chance for
operators to consolidate into a cooperative or corporation.
Search this table below to see the consolidation status of your route as of December 31,
2023, if your route will still be in service by February 1. Take note that only routes labeled as
having no consolidated entities are in danger of being wiped out.

Before the extension was announced, left-leaning critics of the PUV Modernization
Program warned that the consolidation requirement will soon bring job losses and messy
commutes.

“This reaffirms our fears of massive job losses and disruption of public transport after January
31 when unconsolidated jeeps and UVE will no longer be allowed to operate,” said Bagong
Alyansang Makabayan president Renato Reyes in a statement on Saturday, January 20.

Transport group PISTON, which has co-led a series of protests against the program, also said a
“mass transport disaster” awaited as “thousands” of drivers and operators could be displaced.

Using the data provided by the LTFRB, Rappler created a map visualizing the status of
consolidation nationwide. Regions are shaded based on the number of jeepney or UV Express
routes that failed to consolidate before December 31, 2023.

A Flourish map

Looking closely at the data, Bicol is the region that has the most number of unconsolidated
jeepney routes. Nearly 68% of all routes in Bicol, or 451 routes, have no consolidated
jeepneys. In Metro Manila, more than 35% of jeepney routes have no consolidated
jeepneys. Central Visayas, Caraga, and Soccsksargen are the only regions that do not have
routes that failed to consolidate.

Still, the government insists that there will be no transportation crisis. According to the
Department of Transportation (DOTr), consolidated cooperatives will be asked to operate on
routes with unconsolidated jeepneys. In relation to this, drivers who will be displaced by
consolidation could be absorbed by other cooperatives or corporations that will “badly need”
them as they expand routes.

“We were assured by the cooperatives na sila po ay tatanggap ng mga drivers doon sa
operators na hindi po nag-consolidate (that they will accept drivers from operators who were
unable to consolidate),” said Office of Transportation Cooperatives Chairman Jesus Ferdinand
Ortega on January 5.

The DOTr also views consolidation as an opportunity to “rationalize” routes, which means that
it really doesn’t expect to keep all routes. Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said that
based on the government’s study, achieving a 65% consolidation rate nationwide will be
“sufficient” to carry the program forward. He explained that some routes are redundant, with
shorter routes overlapping with longer ones.
“‘Yung mga naiwan, sa tingin namin, will be enough. And we will, siyempre, rationalize
na ‘yung mga ruta. For example, merong isang ruta 'nyo na mahaba. May mga ruta in
between. ‘Yun ‘yung mga unconsolidated, ‘yung in between, baka hindi na. Kaya, ‘yun
ang mga tinitignan natin,” he said in an interview on January 5.

(Those that were left, in our view, will be enough. We will, of course, rationalize the routes.
For example, there's one long route. There are routes in between. Those routes in between that
were unconsolidated may be dropped. That's what we're looking at.)

In the meantime, the LTFRB also advised the public to turn to other modes of public
transportation for their daily commute.

“There are still other modes of public transport in Metro Manila. We are talking of buses, other
modes like taxis, TNVS (transport network vehicle services) that could also accommodate
public demand,” said LTFRB NCR Regional Director Zona Tamayo in a press briefing last
December 29.

The government has also gone on record numerous times to defend its controversial PUV
Modernization Program, holding three press conferences about it in a week. In each one,
officials underscored how the program will uplift drivers and operators and how consolidation
is a necessary first step to upgrading to modern jeepneys. (READ: Anti-poor? How gov’t
defends PUV modernization, why jeepney stakeholders oppose it ) – Rappler.com

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traffic in 2023. What can we learn?
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AUTHOR

Lance Spencer Yu
@LANCEYU_
Lance Spencer Yu is a multimedia reporter who covers the transportation, tourism,
infrastructure, finance, agriculture, and corporate sectors, as well as macroeconomic issues.
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