PITX passengers surge to 170,000 amid Christmas exodus

The average daily number of passengers at Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX) has increased to 170,000 amid the Christmas exodus, its management said on Friday.

PITX senior corporate affairs officer Kolyn Calbasa said this already exceeded their expected average daily number of passengers which is only around 150,000.

“Noong mga nakaraang araw, in-expect na natin na may may bugso na ng iba-ibang papuntang probinsiya. So 'yung expected natin na daily average na 150,000, pumapalo na 'yan ng 170,000 noong mga nakaraang araw,” she told Unang Balita in an interview.

(In the past few days, we have expected an influx of passengers going to the provinces. We expected a daily average of 150,000 but it already breached 170,000 in the past few days.)

“Ngayon, alas-siyete pa lang ng umaga, nakikita na natin na 14,000 na po 'yung dumadayo sa ating terminal. So ine-expect natin sa pagdaan ng mga oras ngayong Biyernes ay mas dodoble pa ito,” she added.

(Now, as of 7:00 a.m., we monitored 14,000 passengers who had arrived at our terminal. So we expect as the hours pass this Friday, it will double.)

According to Calbasa, around 180,000 to 200,000 passengers are expected to flock at PITX on Friday and the influx of passengers at the terminal is expected to continue until Monday.

Calbasa advised passengers that there may be delays in trips to Bicol due to impassable roads.

“Ine-eexpect po natin na may kaunting delays po going to Bicol dahil meron pong mga unpassable roads dyan. Pero marami naman po tayong deployed na buses, so ibig sabihin marami pa rin pong biyahe dito sa PITX,” she said.

(We are expecting some delays going to Bicol because there are impassable roads there. But we deployed many buses, so that means there are still many trips from here at PITX.)

“As usual po, blockbuster po natin ang Bicol Region dahil marami pong probinsiya 'yan (As usual, the Bicol Region is our blockbuster because many passengers came from the provinces there.)

Calbasa advised passengers to make advance booking and send a message to the PITX Facebook page to determine what bus companies they have to contact for their trips.

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) on Thursday said that it has granted 956 special permits for public utility vehicles to cater more passengers during the holidays.

Provincial buses are allowed to use EDSA for limited hours from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. starting Friday, according to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).

From December 26, 2024 until January 2, 2025, provincial buses will be allowed to use EDSA for 24 hours.—Joviland Rita/AOL, GMA Integrated News