The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board should release the complete list of routes that are expected to have a shortage of public utility jeepneys beginning next month, Senator Grace Poe said Tuesday.

Poe, who chairs the Senate Committee on Public Services, stressed that the LTFRB must focus on providing measures to ensure the availability of transportation for the masses.

“The LTFRB should publicize a complete list of routes that are expected to have a shortage of jeepneys starting 1 February,” she said in a statement.

“Instead of just training its sights on the crackdown on unconsolidated jeepneys, agencies concerned must prioritize contingency measures to ensure that the mobility of our commuting public will not be hampered,” she added.

Beginning next month, unconsolidated PUVs plying different routes across the country would be considered “colorum” by the LTFRB.

Transport groups have warned that the government would not be able to prevent the impending transport crisis next year as fewer jeepneys will be available for the public.

Data from the LTFRB showed that at least 1,767 routes across the country have no consolidated PUJ drivers and operators.

Poe said the LTFRB must also find a way to implement the PUV modernization program properly without putting commuters and drivers in difficult situations.

“Every day, we hear commuters expressing their anxiety about the possibility of the lack of PUVs or their having to spend more for alternative modes of transportation, which many would find painful to the pocket,” she said.

“The PUV modernization program also looms as a death knell to the drivers who have remained without cooperatives for valid reasons, such as the high cost of the new jeepney units,” she noted.

She continued: “What is the PUV modernization for if it is not implemented properly and if it will just cause suffering for our commuters and small drivers?”

Launched in 2017, the deadline for the implementation of the PUV modernization program has been postponed several times.

Part of the program requires phasing out traditional jeepneys, buses, and other PUVs at least 15 years old.

The government will subsidize P210,000 to P280,000 of the reportedly P2.5 million cost of a new Euro-4 PUV model. Some modern units, however, including those manufactured locally are priced at only about a million pesos.

PUV drivers and operators are also required to consolidate themselves under the PUV modernization program.

The LTFRB has allayed fears of a looming transport crisis, stressing that there are other alternative modes of transportation for the public.