Will Overcrowding Still Be A Problem When Transportation Reform Sets In?

One of the recurring issues that the Transport Department is trying to address is the overcrowding on buses. But Vasquez says the department simply doesn’t have the resources to man the entire country, but that they focus on the main areas where overcrowding is frequently reported. The Chief Transport Officer said the hope is that when the new policies such as mandatory ticket sales to manage proper seating are introduced and fine-tuned, they will ensure that bus operators adhere to the rules of the road.

Dian Vasquez

Dian Vasquez, Chief Transport Officer

“We have to rely a lot on the operators to do their part in assisting us, manage the situation, you know. We can only do so much as a department, and we are. We are pouring our resources out on the highway, and we recognize that we are very limited with our resources and that was why we started engaging with the police department to see how we can combine our efforts to extend our reach. And so, the police department, they’ve been very helpful in working with the Department of Transport and they’ve been very helpful in sharing their resources and in ensuring that we have presence on all the national highways. We can’t reach every corner of the country, but what we have been doing is we’ve been looking at the data to see where are the hot spots for infractions, yeah, for infractions and these violations. And so we’ve been concentrating our efforts in these areas, the junction, to try and manage the situation. We are trying our very best to reach everyone. And it is our hope that after we put the necessary infrastructure in place and the necessary reforms in terms of the policies, updating the legislation, this will make a difference, and we won’t have to entirely rely on just enforcement.”