THE Vallacar Transit Inc. (VTI) has put in place necessary measures to ensure the health of the riding public as it resumes the operation of its Ceres Liner buses in Negros Occidental including Bacolod City on Monday, May 18.
The public expects that the resumption of trips will start on Saturday, May 16, after the lifting of enhanced community quarantine in Bacolod City.
Jade Marquez-Seballos, legal and media relations officer of VTI, said the road-worthiness of all bus units was already checked and that these are actually ready to resume trips by that time.
Marquez-Seballos, however, said the company has yet to gather all the drivers as well as conductors and give them orientation so the resumption will start on Monday.
"Our president and chief executive officer, Leo Rey Yanson, wants to ensure the safety of all the passengers thus, necessary measures and strict policies will be implemented to help combat coronavirus disease (Covid-19)," she said.
However, passengers should brace for a fare adjustment based on the tariff approve by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), she added.
The new fare matrix will be posted on each of the bus units.
The country's biggest bus firm stressed that Ceres buses will only cater to passengers at the terminals.
The passengers are urged to proceed at the terminals as thermal scanning will be implemented there.
The VTI though is still finalizing with various local government units (LGUs) for possible pickup points that can also cater to passengers who are far from the terminals.
Marquez-Seballos said washing areas will also be established at the terminals and pick up points along with footbath placed at the steps of every bus unit.
She said the riding public is required to wash their hands before boarding a bus on top of wearing face masks.
"If found to have fever, or their body temperature is high, passengers will not be allowed to ride," Marquez-Seballos said, adding that "no face masks - no ride and no standing policies will also be imposed."
The VTI will also require passengers to provide information like names, address and contact numbers in the manifesto for possible contact tracing purposes.
To ensure the safety of the drivers, meanwhile, their area will be "closed" or restricted from the passengers.
Drivers and conductors will be given "essentials" to protect themselves despite that passengers are coming from different places, the company said.
There will be markings inside the buses to ensure observance of social distancing.
Those with "X" mark should not be occupied, its official also said.
"We hope for cooperation from the riding public," she said, adding that "while responding to the transport need of the Negrenses, their safety is also the company's top priority."
