The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) 7 has recommended the establishment of a school transport service in Panglao in a bid to address the town’s insufficient public transportation means particularly for students.

Rey Elnar, chief of the LTFRB 7’s Transportation Development Office, on Thursday said that the lack of public transportation has long been a problem of Panglao prompting the agency to device the measure for students.

According to Elnar, the LTRFB has started to accept applications of groups interested in operating a school transport service while waiting for more transportation companies to open routes in the town.

Transport groups need to secure requirements of the LTFRB including a contract between the school and the operator and compliance with vehicle safety standards, said Elnar.

The local government unit (LGU) of Panglao had previously noted that the Southern Star Bus Company, a bus line under Ceres Liner, has still not been able to relaunch its trips in the town after these were suspended by the Land Transportation Office last year.

Ceres’ entry into Panglao briefly augmented the municipality’s public transportation means before its operations in the town were ordered suspended due to the lack of a franchise to ply the route.

Danny Reyes, a transportation consultant for the Panglao LGU had earlier said that Ceres is likely to relaunch its trips in the town after the Department of Transportation in June gave the go-signal to lift the moratorium on new franchises for public utility vehicles. (AD)