Tough times for Beeps

Starting Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021, Beep is suspending its units from plying the streets until further notice because of the increasing number of Covid cases all over Cebu and to give time to its pool to comply with the health and safety protocols.

Beep announced this in a public post on Wednesday, Aug. 25.

Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) 7 Director Eduardo Montealto, Jr., said of the 40 Beep units in Cebu issued with a special permit to operate, only 13 are currently operating.

Montealto said this is not because of the Cebu Provincial Government’s air purifier protocol but because of decreased passenger demand.

“Even before the health protocols required by the Province, they already asked permission to stop operating because they have very few passengers in their routes and they are losing,” Montealto said in Cebuano.

The Beep drivers have also been scheduled for vaccination so they had to go back to their respective places of origin as most of them are not from Cebu City, he added.

Montealto said the Beep operator earlier informed LTFRB 7 of his plan to suspend operations though this was not immediately implemented pending efforts to try to change routes in Cebu Province.

Some Beep units also have fixed windows and are air conditioned.

The heightened Covid health protocols require that for proper ventilation inside public utility vehicles (PUVs), windows must be opened and air conditioning units turned off.

Montealto said among the Beep units affected are those covering Carbon to Busay and Banawa to I.T Park routes.

However, other MPUJ units and Ceres buses have been deployed in these routes, he said.

Montealto said Beep units will operate again in September as part of LTFRB’s Free Ride program which will resume by then.