DOTr, LTFRB Showcase Modern Metro Buses

On Saturday, September 8, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), in partnership with Durabus, launched a new set of modern public utility buses in Pasay City.

Designed for point-to-point, city and long-haul operations, the modern buses boast of a lot of modern features that help make travel a lot more comfortable and convenient for each and every passenger. Aside from being fully air-conditioned, the buses are equipped with generous legroom, reclining seats, ramps for persons with disability (PWDs),  automatic fare collection system, CCTV monitoring, dashcam, and free Wi-Fi.

The long-haul buses even have their own toilet, lavatory, and refrigerator. Behind the headrests, passengers get to enjoy personal entertainment sets loaded with up-to-date movies, music, games, and other forms of digital media.

All the buses also have a comparatively wider front and middle passenger doors than average buses, making ingress and egress a whole lot easier.

DOTr Assistant Secretary for Road Transport Mark De Leon and LTFRB Chairman Martin Delgra III graced the launch event. De Leon said that the modern buses can be an effective measure in easing traffic congestion in the city, a statement supported by Delgra.

"We don't need more cars. We need more buses and we need more efficient public transport so people would prefer public transport over their private vehicles," Delgra claimed.

The modern buses will also go a long way in improving the safety of the riding public, according to Delgra. "The last three major accidents that we had involving buses na maraming namatay (with a lot of fatalities) is all because of mechanical error, or luma na (it's old) and not well-maintained ang mga units," he added. "These accidents that happened are really to emphasize the fact that we need to modernize our public transportation system. We owe it to the public, particularly to the riding public, to push the modernization even further."

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