Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 30)— The public transport regulator is looking into offering thousands of slots for ride-sharing services, an official said Thursday.
“The board is thinking mga 10,000 muna pero hindi pa final eh kasi nga inaaral namin kung ilan ba talaga yung nag-apply na, ilan pa talaga yung kulang sa 65,000 so hindi muna namin masabi kung ilan pero roughly mga 10 (thousand) muna siguro,” Ronaldo Corpus, a member of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), told CNN Philippines after the House Metro Manila committee briefing on transport issues.
[Translation: The board is thinking of about 10,000, but that’s not yet final because we’re still studying the number of applications to fill in the demand beyond the current 65,000 units. We can’t say the number, but roughly it would be 10,000 initially.]
Corpus said applications for new Transport Network Vehicle Service (TNVS) units will be opened in June.
Authorities are advising applicants to prepare documents since the slots are offered on a first-come, first-served basis.
“Mag-abang lang sila kasi magiging online registration, online application ‘yan, parang ginawa last year so ganoon ang mangyayari na so sa online ka na bibira. Kapag kulang ang dokumento mo, palagay ko ire-reject ka ng online system kaya kailangan magprepare sila, kumpleto dokumento,” Corpus added.
[Translation: They should wait for the online registration, online application, like what we did last year. So that’s what will happen—they have to do it online. If their documents are incomplete, their applications may be rejected by the online system.]
In January 2018, the LTFRB cut down TNVS units plying Metro Manila roads to just 45,000. Authorities, however, opened 20,000 slots by the end of the year.
CNN Philippines Correspondent Rex Remitio contributed to this report.
