THE Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) is considering opening franchises for point-to-point (P2P) service that would cater to provincial routes.
This was disclosed by LTFRB Chairman Martin Delgra III at the launch of the P2P service for the Robinsons Novaliches-Park Square, Makati City, route on Tuesday.
Delgra said more routes are being considered not only for Metro Manila but the provinces, as well, in line with government efforts to address traffic congestion.
He cited in particular the route that will ply from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport to the Clark International Airport at the Clark Freeport Zone in Mabalacat, Pampanga.
He said each P2P route will have a single or two franchise holders “because we are discouraging competition.”
“The philosophy behind this is we want one or two operators to be responsible for these routes,” he said.
Delgra said the P2P system will not hurt the operations of regular bus companies and will instead augment them.
“These (P2P) buses will not pick-up passengers along the way so they are not a competition to regular buses,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Robinsons Novaliches-Park Square, Makati route was given to the joint venture business of Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) and HM Transport Inc., which was provided a total of 36 franchises.
It is among the sixth P2P franchise operating to date, including the North EDSA-Makati and vice versa and the Alabang-Makati routes.