PITX expects up to 170K daily passengers during Christmas week

Up to 170,000 daily passengers are expected to use the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange during the Christmas week, Corporate Affairs and Government Relations chief Jason Salvador said Tuesday.

At the televised public briefing, Salvador said they recorded around 168,000 passengers in PITX last Saturday.

They are already expecting this number as the average number of daily passengers using PITX in recent months has already reached  140,000, he added.

"Ang estimate natin nitong Christmas week ay talagang mag-a-average tayo ng 160,000 to 170,000 passengers per day kaya naman puspusan ang ating paghahanda dito," Salvador said.

[Our estimate is that during Christmas week, we will average from 160,000 to 170,000 passengers per day that's why we are really preparing for this.]

Amid the Christmas rush, Salvador said they already coordinated with the Department of Transportation and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board to ensure that there are adequate public utility vehicles that will cater to all the passengers in the landport.

The LTFRB has also committed to issue special permits to PUVs if necessary, he added.

Part of the safety measures that they are imposing are random drug tests for the drivers and random inspection of PUVs in coordination with the Land Transportation Office, Salvador said.

Further, Salvador said officers from the Philippine National Police are already deployed in PITX to maintain order in the landport.

Salvador appealed to the public to limit their baggage for their own convenience and as courtesy to other passengers.

Although there are lesser documents required for travelling in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic, Salvador reminded the passengers to maintain the minimum public health standards such as frequent disinfection and social distancing.

Vaccine cards are no longer required in the PITX, Salvador said. However, they highly encourage the passengers to bring it as some end destinations might still require it.

Salvador said the PITX management is also monitoring if there are cases of overcharging amid the holiday rush.

PUVs that will overcharge passengers will be reported to the LTFRB which may cause cancellation of their franchise, he warned. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News