Motoring Today Column: Changing the way of commuting

Jul 10, 2019

Changing the way of commuting

The modern Public Utility Vehicle (PUV) is here. The jeepney is moving closer to the museum. And the Pinoy is changing the way he commutes.

The turnover of modern PUV units started months ago and we now see them plying various routes. There's nothing about the old jeepney in those modern PUVs that now have the shape of mini buses with fuel-efficient engines, air-conditioning, and enough room for passengers to stand upright. Some of them also have the e-payment system where passengers swipe pre-paid cards to pay for the ride. Designers of the modern PUV say that this payment system will soon be in all PUVs.

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has gone full blast in the implementation of the program. InClark, Pampanga last July 4, theModern PUV Caravan was launched to start the "Arangkada ng Pagbabago Tungo sa Kaunlaran" teams that will be going around the country until January 27 next year. The mission: To spread information about the modern PUV.

The caravan is a joint undertaking of theDOTr, LTFRB, Land Transportation Office (LTO), and Office of Transportation Cooperatives (OTC), in cooperation with the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), Landbank of the Philippines (LBP), and various sub-industries in the automotive industry.

Scholarship program

The move for PUV modernization will also include a scholarship program that will give free skills training and entrepreneurial guidance to drivers, operators and their family members so they can have other livelihood opportunities other than being PUV drivers.

The scholarship program is under theDepartment of Transportation (DOTr) and theTechnical Skills Development Authority (TESDA). Since April, the Tsuper Iskolar has already been launched in Pangasinan, Misamis Oriental, Zamboanga del Norte, Davao City, Kalinga and in Cebu last July 7.

The program aims to provide the drivers, operators and their families additional skills to give them other forms of livelihood. The scholarships will include technical training from various industrial sectors- the metal and engineering, electrical and electronics, tourism, garments and textiles, automotive and IT/ICT.

About 5,000 beneficiaries have already registered with the program and close to 50 percent are on training now in various skills and trades nationwide.

LTFRB's First Impounding Area

The campaign against colorum vehicles has turned more serious with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Central Office pursuing its plan to build its first impounding area that can hold some 800 vehicles.

The LTFRB broke ground for this structure recently at a3.5-hectare lot in Barangay La Paz, Magalang, Pampanga.

The groundbreaking ceremony was led by LTFRB Chairman Atty. Martin B. Delgra III and was also graced by Department of Transportation Assistant Secretary Manuel S. Gonzales , concurrently Head of I-ACT, LTFRB Board Member Engr. Ronaldo F. Corpus, as well as key officials of LTFRB Central and Region 3 offices, and of Barangay La Paz.

Delgra described the 3.5 hectare impounding area, which currently holds around 800 vehicles, as a "boot camp for impounded vehicles."

C5 South Link

C5 South Link will soon open its first segment 3A in July.

Spanning CP Garcia, Taguig to Sucat, Paranaque, this 7.7-kilometer tollroad is composed of two segments - one which will traverse Cavitex to Sucat ; and the other which will continue on to Sucat, Paranaque, Pasay, Las Pinas, crossing over SLEX and theSkyway At-Grade to CP Garcia Avenue, Taguig.

It will have three interchanges - the Cavitex R1Interchange, Sucat Interchange and Merville Interchange.

The project is one of the ongoing infrastructure projects of Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC) through its subsidiary Cavitex Infrastructure Corporation.

"We are fast tracking construction to be able to open the 2.2-km Segment 3A1 towards the end of July, to immediately alleviate congestion and enable motorists to easily cross from Merville, Paranaque to Taguig and vice versa. This alignment features the bridge that crosses over Skyway at-grade and SLEX and aimed to decongest Sales Road, as well as the East and West Service Roads," said DPWH Secretary Mark Villar who led the ocular inspection by driving through the almost completed segment.

"When completed, C5 South Link will seamlessly connect C5 and Cavitex via Merville and Sucat. It will benefit about 50,000 cars in key areas of Metro Manila such as Makati, Taguig, Las Pinas, Pasay and Paranaque, as well as the roads of EDSA, Sales, East and West Service Roads. C5 South Link from CP Garcia, Taguig when connected to Cavitex, Paranaque may be traversed in under 10 minutes." said Bobby Bontia, president and general manager of Cavitex Infrastructure Corporation.

MPTC is a subsidiary of Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC).

App for road safety

There's app designed to help pedestrians and motorists to be more mindful of their own safety on the streets. It's called Croxtec (pronounced Cross-tek) and it was developed by Debbie Anne Macariola-St. John, a Filipino balikbayan who had worked in the US automotive industry for 20 years.

The pedestrian safety app sends alerts to a motorist or a pedestrian on whether they are in a safe zone, caution zone or unsafe zone. It focuses on providing an early warning alert to both driver and pedestrian if there is an impending danger.

The app is the flagship product Djanco Information Technology Solutions. It was launched in the Philippines recently and its designer says it will soon be launched in Asia.

Croxtec is a free download available on Google play for Android phones: it only needs data for it to work effectively.

Happy Motoring!!!

For comments & inquiries:

(email) sunshine.television@yahoo.com

(website) www.motoringtoday.ph

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ray Butch Gamboa graduated from the College of Arts and Letters of the University of Sto. Tomas. It was a course that should have been preparatory to a law degree, but the call of broadcasting aborted his plans.

At the age of 16, while still a student, Butch tried his hand at disc jockeying, landing a job at Mareco Broadcasting Network’s AM stations DZBM and DZLM. From there, Butch moved on with his illustrious career as a popular disc jockey, riding the airwaves of Bob Stewart’s middle-of-the-road music at DZXX, and ending his disc jockeying career at ABS-CBN’s DZYL and DZQL.

From there, he stayed on with ABS-CBN, covering live the proceedings at the Manila Stock Exchange and eventually entered into the world of television sales as an account manager for the premier channel of ABS-CBN Channel 2.

In the early 70’s, at the outbreak of Martial Law, Butch was one of the thousands of professionals who woke up jobless when then President Marcos declared the new status of the nation. With the closure of ABS-CBN, Butch ventured into different fields outside of broadcast. He tried his hand and with ease and success at export (Costume jewelry), real estate (brokerage), and restaurants (fast food).

In 1987, after the revolution, with the broadcast industry back to its free state, and with its irresistible call ringing in his ears, Butch made his inevitable comeback and pioneered in a local motoring show, producing Motoring Today on Channel 4 and co-hosting with local motor sports’ living legend Pocholo Ramirez.

After 4 years, he ventured into another pioneering format by producing and hosting Business & Leisure, which was originally aired on ABS-CBN’s Channel 2. The format eventually espoused similar ones in other different channels. But the clones in due course faded away leaving the original staying on airing on Channel 4 and eventually on Shop TV on Sky Cable’s Channel 13.

The following year, the pioneering spirit in Butch spurred him to produce another TV show, Race Weekend, also on Channel 4, covering circuit racing at the Subic International Raceway after the motor sport’s hiatus of 17 years. But when similar shows with duplicated formats sprouted, he decided to give way and ended the program after a year, although still enjoying unparalleled viewership.

In 1998, when the local automotive industry was in a slump, Butch contributed his share to help the ailing industry by producing another popular motoring-related show, this time exclusive to the automobile and its industry—Auto Focus, which became a vehicle for local automotive assemblers and importers to showcase their products and dwell on the industry’s latest technological developments.

In 2003, Butch teamed up with his brother, Rey Gamboa who was a former Shell executive and presently one Philippine Star’s business columnist to co-produce and co-host the TV show Breaking Barriers on Channel 13. It is a talk show that features guests who are in the news and in the middle of controversies. The program ventures to draw deeper insights into current issues to learn how they impact to our daily lives.

Today, Motoring Today on its 28th year of service to the general motoring public still enjoys its unprecedented loyal vierwership nationwide while Auto Focus, after 16 years has firmly established its niche viewership among automobile enthusiasts and on the other hand Business & Leisure is on its 24th year dishing out current business issues and lifestyle features.

Today, aside from writing weekly columns for the Philippine Star (Motoring Today on Wednesdays and Business & Leisure on Saturdays) and executive producer / host of weekly TV shows (Motoring Today, airs Sundays on Solar Sports Channel 70, Business & Leisure, airs Tuesdays on Shop TV, Sky Cable Channel 13 and Auto Focus airs Thursdays on Shop TV, Sky Cable Channel 13, Ray Butch Gamboa is currently the Chairman and CEO of Sunshine Television Production and Marketing Services Corp., President of Gamcor Management and Development Corp., Chairman of Asia-Pacific Realty Corporation, President and Chairman of Socio-Communication Foundation for Asia and Founding Chairman of the Society of Phil. Motoring Journalists (SPMJ)