Public transportation will be suspended anew once Metro Manila and four other provinces revert back to modified enhanced community quarantine on August 4, the Transportation Department said Monday.
In a statement, DOTr stressed transport services will remain limited in MECQ areas, in line with the existing quarantine guidelines set by the country’s COVID-19 Inter-Agency Task Force.
The following public transport services will not be allowed under MECQ: bus, jeepney, taxi, trains (PNR, LRT-1, LRT-2, and MRT-3), and Transport Network Vehicle Service (TNVS).
Tricycles will also not be allowed, but with exceptions subject to guidelines of the Interior Department and respective local government units.
Only public shuttles dedicated for frontliners and other workers in permitted industries will be allowed to run under the service category, DOTr said.
As for private transport, company shuttle will be allowed to operate, provided it follows the 50 percent passenger capacity rule. Rented shuttles should also secure a special permit from the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board.
Personal vehicles owned by persons or workers in permitted sectors will also be allowed, given only two persons per row are seated.
Individual use of bicycle, motorcycle, and e-scooter (subject to existing traffic regulations) will also be allowed.
Metro Manila as well as the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal are set to shift back to the stricter lockdown status on Tuesday, as President Rodrigo Duterte partly heeded the call of the medical community for tighter restrictions.
Official transport guidelines and other quarantine protocols, however, were not thoroughly discussed during Duterte’s hour-long address late Sunday night. His spokesperson Harry Roque is expected to flesh out details in his briefing later in the day.