Is this THE solution? A Driver’s Academy for public transport drivers

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – To hopefully lessen road accidents and ease traffic congestion, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Land Transportation Regulatory and Franchising Board (LTFRB) launched recently its Driver’s Academy.  

 All public transport drivers will be required to attend this academy. 

 An LTFRB memorandum circular said the academy will teach basic road safety rules and regulations to public utility drivers with the aim of building a “professionalize transport sector.” 

According to a statement by the Department of Transportation (DOTr), the Academy opened August 17, 2017 at the LTFRB main branch in Quezon City. Sessions on basic road safety, driving courtesy, and traffic rules and regulations are held here every Thursday and Friday from 8 am to 5 pm.  

Aside from LTFRB’s main branch, the Academy is also open in Region 3.  

PUV drivers will be required to attend a one-day training seminar in the academy. Before getting their professional licenses they will have to take a written exam with a passing rate of 75%. Only after completing the program and passing the exam will prospective professional drivers receive a certificate of completion and an ID which they will have to present when they renew their license or franchise. 

As part of the continuing education of public utility drivers, they will have to renew their ID every year.   

The memorandum circular also informed employers that they must PUV Driver‘s Academy IDs before hiring. 

The LTFRB plans to replicate nationwide the seminar training for PUV drivers.  

Orbos posts on FB 

 Tim Orbos, the Department of Transportation Undersecretary for Road Transport and concurrent MMDA General Manager, said in a statement that the Academy will help “make sure that all PUV drivers on the road know these traffic regulations in order to avoid accidents, and to also ease the traffic situation on our thoroughfares.” 

He said PUV drivers must learn the traffic rules and regulations “by heart” because thousands of commuters depend on them.   

Last August 27, Orbos posted on his Facebook account his encounter with an erring bus, an experience which made him realize why the Driver’s Academy “really makes sense.“ 

Orbos said in his FB account that a reckless bus driver sideswiped his car.  

The driver did not recognize that Orbos was the MMDA General Manager and a DOTr undersecretary. Orbos said that at first, the errant driver accused him of being the one who sideswiped the bus.  

When the driver realized who Orbos was, he immediately apologized.  

Other solutions Orbos mentioned in that FB post were: a fixed salary scheme for PUV drivers and removal of provincial bus terminals along EDSA. 

Last June, the LTFRB said it was planning to implement a fixed-salary scheme for jeepney drivers to break the bad habit of reckless driving to get more passengers.  – Rappler.com