An increasing number of frontline health workers and hospital staff have benefitted from the free shuttle service provided by the government under the Free Ride for Health Workers (Libreng Sakay) Program of the Department of Transportation (DOTr), Land Transportation Office (LTO) and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).
According to recent figures released by the DOTr, total ridership reached 1,405,950 where 412,767 total ridership was achieved in the NCR-Greater Manila, while 993,183 was reached in other regions, as of July 28, 2020.
The free ride service aimed to ease transportation woes of frontline health workers. It now operates at the National Capital Region (NCR) and Regions 1 – 12, including Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and the Caraga Region. The program covered just three routes within NCR when it began on March 18.
Using the Sakay.ph website or mobile app, health workers in the Greater Manila Area (GMA) can monitor the real time locations of bus units, as well as the arrival and departure times of the following routes:
- Line 1 (Malanday-Welcome Rotunda)
- Line 2 (Paso de Blas-Welcome Rotunda)
- Line 3 (Tungkong Mangga-Quezon City)
- Line 4 (Masinag-Ortigas)
- Line 5 (Cainta-BGC-Pasig)
- Line 6 (Quezon Ave-E.Rod-Cubao)
- Line 8 (Alabang-Makati-BGC)
- Line 10 (Alabang Feeder Route)
- Line 11 (Alabang-Manila Line)
- Line 12 (Aguinaldo Highway Line)
- Line 13 (Alabang-Cavite Line)
- Line 7 (Pasig-Greenhills-Manda-Makati)
- Line 14 (Taytay-Santa Mesa)
- Line 9 (Molino-Manila Line)
- Line 15 (Sucat Line)
- Line 16 (San Mateo Line)
- Line 17 (North Caloocan Feeder Route)
- Line 18 (Cavite North Line)
- Line 19 (Laguna Line)
Each bus comes equipped with GPS location tracker devices installed by PLDT Enterprise and Vectras Inc. so that riders can monitor the arrival of buses in the pick-up/drop-off points. The updated map covering all routes can be viewed at https://bit.ly/DOTrFrontlineShuttleMap.
The program was made possible through the partnership with Petron Corporation that gave fuel subsidies for the buses, and the various toll operators which waived toll fees for medical workers passing through all expressways in Luzon.
According to data from the DOTr Road Sector, on July 28, a total of 109 vehicles were deployed to give free rides across all the routes of the program.