LTFRB opens 200 slots for taxi units in Baguio

BAGUIO CITY – The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) recently approved the opening of some two hundred slots for taxi units in the city to help provide convenience to residents and tourists alike who want to move around the city.

LTFRB chairman Martin Delgra said that the available taxi units will be offered to transport cooperatives that have already consolidated pursuant to established rules and regulations that were crafted for the purpose considering that the franchises that will be issued will be on a fleet management scheme.

He said a maximum of 50 units will comprise one fleet that is why the grant of the franchises to the newly opened taxi units will be granted to registered transport cooperatives that were able to avail of the consolidation.

“We were able to receive a number of applications from local transport cooperatives that were able to consolidate and we are currently evaluating the said applications before granting the franchises to the approved units of taxis in the city,” Delgra said.

The LTFRB chairman said additional slots for taxi units that were opened by the board was pursuant to the identified need for more taxi units that will ply the city’s streets for the convenience of the increasing number of motorists wanting to roam around the city.

Delgra was in town to witness the turnover of leadership of both the LTFRB-CAR and the Cordillera office of the Land Transportation Office (LTO-CAR) Thursday morning.

Chairman Delgar also announced that Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade approved the opening of franchises for premium taxis in key cities in the country that includes Baguio city.

According to him, premium taxis are those top of the line car models and high capacity vans that will be converted to taxi units to service the needs of high-end visitors.

He said premium taxis that will be made available in key cities in the country will provide the opportunity for high-end visitors to leave their cars in their hotels and lodging areas to allow them to freely roam around their desired tourist destinations instead of being stressed due to traffic in their places of destination.

 Delgra said owners of top of the line vehicles can apply with the LTFRB for the issuance of the appropriate franchise for their vehicles to be converted into premium taxi units to entice more high-end visitors to spend their well-deserved break in key cities in the country that are also major tourist destinations.

LTFRB is an attached agency of the Department of Transpiration and Railways (DOTR) that is mandated to issue the certificates of public convenience (CPCs) to applications for issuance of franchises to individuals and cooperatives interested to operate the public transport industry in various places around the country.

He urged local transport cooperatives to complete their requirements before filing their applications for the issuance of franchises to the available 200 slots of taxi units and the premium taxis so that the same could be immediately processed by the board considering the stringent procedures required for the said purpose pursuant to existing rules and regulations that were crafted for the said purpose. -- Dexter A. See