DAVAO CITY – The Land Transport Franchise and Regulatory Board is still monitoring the compliance of school transport services to regulatory requirements.
Edgar Violan, spokesperson of LTFRB XI said there are 272 units of school transport service providers or carpool and 19 school transport buses in the region.
“We are checking if these school bus or transport service providers have their franchises by coordinating with the schools. We also monitor other public utility vehicles passing through the schools,” he said.
He said there are 34 schools in the Davao Region’s southern part are being provided with school transport services and 19 in the northern part.
“As we monitored and coordinated with school management, we found out that almost schools, if not all, will be starting their classes on June 8,” he said.
“Number one, with regards to documents, we inspect the OR (Official Receipt) and CR (Certificate of Registration) [if] it’s current and if the franchises are still valid and most important are the drivers licence of the person driving the vehicle,” said Violan.
He said that with regards the carpool units, they check on the markings like the words “school transport service caution” and the “yellow and black chevron.”
“This is to announce to all motorists that the passengers are special because they are students, children. So if you are a motorist following, you should step back at the sides and give way,” he said.
Violan said school transport services are provided with grills so children’s arms and head would not be exposed.
He said other requirements are fire extinguishers and stop-and-go signs. He said they also inspect tires and tint of vehicles.
“We remove heavy tints so what’s happening inside can be seen from the outside,” he said. Violan said they are still able to inspect 25 percent but they hope to finish it by June 12.
