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The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) is allowing 15-year-old school buses to operate this coming school year to ensure there are enough units to transport students.
The LTFRB on Friday issued Memorandum Circular No. 2015-014, an exemption to the Board’s October 2013 Memorandum Circular No. 2013-006 mandating the age limit of school transport services to 15 years.
The LTFRB noted that out of the 6,264 registered school transport service units in Metro Manila as of December 31, 2014, 1,997 units are more than 15 years old.
“Sa aming masusing pag-aaral, maraming school bus services ang nakatakdang ma-phase out sa taong ito na maaaring maka-apekto sa pagpasok ng mga estudyante,” LTFRB chairman Atty. Winston Ginez said in a statement.
“There is a need for a transition period to assure the availability of school service for school year (SY) 2015-2016,” he added.
Old school bus units will therefore be allowed to operate until March 31, 2016.
The LTFRB said operators of these transport services must submit an Affidavit of Undertaking to Substitute their units that reached the age limit of 15 years before the opening of SY 2016-2017.
According to the LTFRB, it has started checking the road-worthiness of school transport services in various schools in Metro Manila.
Ginez said they found only minimal issues which they ordered corrected such as the lack of seat belts and fire extinguishers, heavily tinted windows and balding tires.
This article has been re-published with permission from ABS-CBNnews.com.
