Public transport distancing niluwagan ng pamahalaan

Mas marami ng mga commuters sa Metro Manila ang makakasakay sa trains tulad ng LRT 1, LRT 2, at MRT 3 at ganon din ang public utility vehicles (PUV) dahil nag relax ang pamahalaan sa physical distancing measures sa iba’t ibang klase ng public transportation.

Sinabi ng Department of Transportation (DOTr) na ang Inter-Agency Task Force on Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases na pumayag na sa proposal ng DOTr at ng Economic Development Cluster (EDC) na magdagdag ng ridership sa mga public transportation sa pamamagitan ng pagbabawas ng physical distance sa pagitan ng mga commuters.

“There is a need to safely optimize the carrying capacity of the various public transport modes as Metro Manila and its adjacent areas continue with transition towards the new normal where more workers are expected to return to their re-opened workplaces and more businesses are expected to resume operations that were stopped during the enforcement of strict quarantine measures,” ayon kay DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade.

Ayon sa DOTr ang one-meter physical distancing ay puede ng ibaba ng  0.75 m at .5 meters at hanggang .3 meters upang magkaron ng optimization ng ridership. It ay dahil na rin sa strict protocols na ginagawa  upang maiwasan ang pagkalat ng COVID19 dahil sa paggamit ng mandatory face masks at face shields.

Sinabi ni Tugade na ang proposal ng  EDC at DOTr ay pinayagan at sinuportuhan ng National Task Force (NTF) laban sa COVID 19.

Ito ay maaari pa na ma optimized sa 0.5 meters pagkatapos ng dalawang linggo at 0.3 naman pagkalipas ng dalawang linggo.

Samantala si transportation assistant secretary Goddes Libiran ay nilinaw na ang Department of Health (DOH) ay nag request ng isang pagpupulong sa EDC at DOTr upang pag-usapan ang nasabing approved na reduction ng passenger social distance requirements.

“For class 2 modern PUVs and public utility buses, we will be easing the physical distance between passengers inside the vehicles would mean that standing passengers may be accommodated. For LRT 1, the relaxed distancing requirements would increase the allowed capacity to 204 (0.75 meter), 255 (0.5 meter and 300 (0.3 meter) from the current 155 with the one meter distancing policy,” ayon sa DOTr

Para naman sa LRT 2, ang passenger capacity ay tataas ng 212 (0.75 meters), 274 (0.5 meters), at 502 (0.3 meters) mula sa dating 160. Sa MRT 3 naman, ang passenger capacity ay mag expand ng 204 (0.75-meter), 255 (0.5-meter), at 286 (0.3-meter) mula sa 153.

“In PNR, trains would expand to accommodate 184 (0.75-meter), 256 (0.5-meter), at 320 (0.3-meter) mula sa dating 166,” dagdag ng DOTr.  (LASACMAR)