MMDA to flag down unconsolidated passenger jeepneys

MANILA, Philippines — The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will help in flagging down passenger jeepneys that failed to take part in the mandated consolidation as part of the government’s program to modernize public utility vehicles (PUVs).

Previously, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board or LTFRB revealed that a total of 313 routes within Metro Manila do not have any consolidated transport service entity.

The agency will tag jeepneys without consolidation as “colorum” and will be apprehended.

Drivers and operators of unconsolidated jeepneys could have decided to skip the process because their routes were short, according to MMDA acting Chairman Romando Artes.

Artes said that they might have struggled to fulfill the consolidation amid the COVID-19 pandemic, when there was no opportunity to fix their vehicles due to various government restrictions.

He added that the MMDA is coordinating with the LTFRB and its lead agency, the Department of Transportation, to ensure that commuters will not suffer any difficulty getting PUV rides.

The MMDA will also help in “random checking” jeepneys without consolidation.

Artes noted that consolidated ones would be given “stickers.”