LTFRB to roll out service contracting, 'libreng sakay' on Monday, April 11

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) on Saturday announced that the service contracting program, which includes free rides to passengers, will be rolled out starting Monday, April 11, 2022.

“We are preparing for Monday implementation nationwide for the service contracting program pero hindi pa siguro lahat ng ruta, gradual palang, kasi nagko-complete pa naman ang ibang operators ng kanilang requirements din (but not all the routes, just gradual, because some operators are still completing their requirements),” LTFRB executive director Maria Kristina Cassion said in an interview on Dobol B TV.

Under the LTFRB’s (LTFRB) service contracting program, public utility vehicle (PUV) operators and drivers who will participate in the government’s free ridership program will receive a one-time payout and weekly payments based on the number of kilometer traveled per week, whether they have passengers or not.

Cassion said that the EDSA Bus Carousel route will be among the first routes to be activated on Monday.

In the next few days, she said, the LTFRB will open the NLEX to Metro Manila service route for the free ridership program.

The service contracting program has a budget of P7 billion under the 2022 General Appropriations Act, according to the LTFRB executive.

The program covers 1,000 routes nationwide to be participated in by 13,000 to 15,000 units of public utility vehicles (PUV) such as modern and traditional jeepneys, buses, and UV Express, Cassion said.

The LTFRB executive said the service contracting program will run for 45 to 60 days depending on the region.

In Metro Manila, she said the program will run for 60 days.

Cassion said the service contracting program, similar to the fuel subsidy program, secured an exemption from the Comelec amid the election public spending ban. —KG, GMA News