More than 300 EDSA Busway buses must be fitted with left-side doors within six months or risk being barred from the corridor as the government cracks down on operators that have long failed to comply with safety rules.
Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez said Wednesday that only 181 of the more than 500 buses currently have left-side doors, warning that operators failing to upgrade their fleets could face fines, suspension or exclusion from the busway.
The directive puts pressure on bus operators and the EDSA Busway consortium to retrofit their vehicles before the deadline, with the Department of Transportation ruling out further extensions.
"I will give our bus operators, our consortium here at the EDSA Busway, only six months. Within six months, the left-side doors of the buses must already be operational," Lopez said following an inspection of the rehabilitated EDSA Busway Monumento Station.
"We will no longer grant any grace period or extension. We have already given a moratorium for a long time. This time, within six months, all buses operating along the busway should have left-side doors," he added.
The requirement is expected to entail additional investments from operators whose buses are equipped only with right-side doors, although the government has yet to disclose the estimated cost of retrofitting.
Under the policy, buses must have doors on the left side to allow passengers to board and alight directly onto station platforms.
Currently, commuters using buses without left-side doors must walk around the vehicles to reach the platforms, exposing them to potential safety risks despite existing barriers.
"What is important here is the safety of our passengers. They will no longer have to walk around the bus. With a door on the driver's left side, passengers can go directly onto the platform at the station. Usually, when there is no left-side door, passengers have to walk around the bus, and that is very dangerous even with a barrier," Lopez said.
"This time, we are not merely appealing. We are going to mandate the operators and the consortium to comply within six months. That is all. No more, no more extensions—left-side doors are required," he said.
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