• CHERYL G. CRUZ
The Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod has ratified April 23 the resolution of the City Development Council Executive Committee on the supplemental annual investment plan to update the Local Public Transport Route Plan (LPTRP) approved in 2021.
This as a public consultation was initiated by the City Planning and Development Office April 22 on plans to update the LPTRP to suit current transport situation in the highly-urbanized Bacolod.
“This activity is one way of understanding the situation and the problem faced by the transport sector,” Mayor Alfredo Benitez had said during the consultation attended by city department heads and other officials, as well as DILG Bacolod director Christian Nagaynay, and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board Region 6 director Richard Osmeña, among others.
“We have tried making headways for us to really move forward concerning the industry. This is one of the first steps in achieving the solution in having a better environment,” Benitez said in a city press release. “In any city, transportation is an integral part of development.”
Section 5 of City Ordinance 966-2021, which adopts the Bacolod LPTRP and provides the guidelines for its implementation, states that the “LPTRP can be modified, amended, expanded, or updated, such as shortening, extending or changing the routes, anytime during its effectivity to suit the transportation demands and development requirements of Bacolod City.”
The LPTRP is part of the public utility vehicle modernization program of the government “to provide safe, adequate, accessible, environment-friendly, and comfortable public transport to the general public and a long-term solution to the worsening public transportation situation in the country.”
Under CO 966, there are 21 rationalized routes with 1,066 units, as well as two developmental/new routes with 10 units each.
The city and concerned agencies held a three-day simulation exercise in 2023 to determine the effectiveness of Bacolod’s LPTRP. | CGC
