After the full deployment of modernized public utility jeepneys (PUJs), UV Express vans will be allowed to resume operations before the end of the month in Metro Manila, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) announced on Sunday.
A technical working group (TWG) from the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and LTFRB is currently finalizing the proposed guidelines that will oversee the return of UV Express in NCR, under Phase Two of the resumption of public transportation under general community quarantine (GCQ).
“We are exhausting all efforts to balance our mandate in transportation with our responsibility of helping prevent the spread of COVID-19. That is why we are observing a gradual and calculated approach for the resumption of public transportation particularly in areas under GCQ,” said LTFRB Chairman Martin Delgra III.
The LTFRB assured UV Express operators that the government is exercising due caution in crafting guidelines that conforms with rules on public transport laid down by the Inter Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Disease (IATF-EID).
Under government directives, UV Express units will only be allowed to accommodate a maximum of nine passengers per trip, in compliance with social distancing protocols that intends to curb the transmission of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).