The Quezon City government will roll out a bus augmentation program on the first week of December to provide additional means of transportation to commuters and help ease traffic congestion.
Mayor Joy Belmonte signed a memorandum of agreement with the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board to pave the way for the bus augmentation program.
“Since public transport is still limited, we have decided to take a step to ease the city’s transportation problem,” she said.
“Through this, we can be able to provide the public with a fast and safe mode of transportation in going to work and other places of destination,” Belmonte added.
The bus program is open to the public during its initial run but would eventually become exclusive for city residents only with a QCitizen identification card.
Under the bus program, the LTFRB would issue a certificate to the city permitting it to operate the eight routes covered by the city bus augmentation program.
The routes are from the Quezon City Hall to Cubao P. Tuazon Street corner Gen. P. Romulo Avenue (and vice versa), City Hall to Litex (and vice versa), Welcome Rotonda to Aurora Boulevard corner Katipunan Avenue (and vice versa), City Hall to General Luis via SB Road (and vice versa), City Hall to Mindanao Avenue corner Quirino Highway (and vice versa), City Hall to LRT 2 Gilmore (and vice versa), City Hall to E. Rodriguez Jr. Avenue corner Ortigas Avenue (and vice versa), and City Hall to LRT 1 Roosevelt and back to City Hall.
Alberto Kimpo, assistant city administrator for operations, said the program would also help ease traffic congestion in Quezon City as it adopts a more efficient mode of transportation that enables the limited road space to be used more productively.
“The program will follow a bus trip schedule and buses will stop only at designated pick-up and drop-off points along their routes,” he said.
The city bus routes are connected to the bike lane program.
The initial phase of the bike lane program would commence on three major thoroughfares — Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon Memorial Circle Elliptical Road and Quezon Avenue — “very soon.”
Belmonte said both programs would help decongest the city’s roads as it encourages citizens to leave their cars at home and ride their bikes or take the bus to their destination.
Task Force for Transport and Traffic Management, headed by Dexter Cardenas, was tasked to spearhead the on-ground operations of the program.
