Gov't offers more free rides anew as DOTr launches third phase of Service Contracting Program (Sabong News)
Author
Aaron Recuenco
Date
APRIL 10 2022
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) will resume the third phase of the Service Contracting Program, that is aimed at assisting both the transport sector and the commuters amid the economic hardships brought by the Covid-19 pandemic, on Monday, April 11.
DOTR Sec. Art Tugade said they will launched the third phase of the program on Monday, April 11, in coordination with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and other government agencies that include the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
A total of 510 buses are expected to provide free rides for healthcare workers and Authorized Persons Outside Residence (APORs) on EDSA Busway starting Monday, April 11.
“We will also open new routes for public utility vehicles free ride across the country in the coming days,”said Tugade.
The Service Contracting Program has a P7 billion fund from the General Appropriations Act 2022.
Under the program, public utility vehicle operators are given the option to choose Gross Contract or Net Contract.
Gross Contract means those enrolled in the program will be given the opportunity to earn on the basis of the number of travels they made each week, with or without passengers. Net Contract, on the other hand, will provide operators and drivers the opportunity to earn north from the fare fee of the passengers and the travels they would make per week.
He said that based on the third phase of the Service Contracting Program, the payment fore Gross Contract was increased from P82.50 to P84 for buses, tourist buses and mini-buses while the payment for consolidated modern jeepneys and vans was increased from P52.50 to P54 per kilometer.
For the Net Contract, the payment was also increased from P45.50 to P46.50 per kilometer for buses and mini-buses while an increase will also be made from P27 to P28 per kilometer for jeepneys and vans.
Tugade said the intention of the Service Contracting Program is to assist both the transport sector and the commuters due to the series of oil price hikes as well as the adverse effects of the pandemic.
The government, under the Service Contracting Program, will pay the operators and drivers on the basis of the number of travels made per week.
But this program was criticized last year due to the delay of the payments from the government to the operators and drivers.
