Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange to Open Next Month

The Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX) is scheduled to start operating by October this year, and with that, all provincial buses--along with other types of public transportation coming from provinces southwest of Metro Manila--have been given the directive to end their trips at the site.

The directive comes from the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).

"All provincial public utility buses, UV Express service, and public utility jitneys originating from provinces southwest of Metro Manila entering via Coastal Road and Manila Cavite Expressway shall end their routes at the Paranaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX) in Coastal Road Parañaque from the date PITX is fully operational," the LTFRB said in Memorandum Circular 2018-20 on September 13.

The agency has also ordered all city buses, jeepneys, and UV Express vans with endpoints at Baclaran and Mall of Asia to extend their routes to PITX to facilitate the transfer of passengers.

"October is the start of transition period. We are talking about readiness of all modes of transport to terminate in the facility and also the readiness of the facility to accept these operators. There will be a duration for commissioning and testing," Department of Transportation (DOTr) Assistant Secretary for Road Transport and Infrastructure Mark de Leon said in a text message to the Philippine News Agency (PNA).

The PITX, set to become the country's first intermodal transport terminal, is projected to accommodate up to 200,000 passengers per day from various modes of transport including train, bus, jeepney, and UV Express.

The terminal houses facilities such as terminal buildings, loading and unloading bays, staging bays, ticketing offices, baggage handling services, and even park-ride services, and will connect passengers coming from Cavite and beyond to other transport systems such as city buses, taxis, jeepneys, and the future LRT Line 1 South Extension, which ends at Barangay Niog, Bacoor.

[gallery size="vw_two_third_thumbnail_no_crop" ids="42172,42175,42171,42174,42170,42173">