Commuters, take note: If you plan on taking any public utility vehicle (PUV) during the COVID-19 pandemic, you better have the StaySafe app installed on your smartphone.
In a Facebook post, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) announced that the contact-tracing app will soon become mandatory inside all PUVs. Within the next 30 days, operators must register on the app for a QR code and must begin requiring passengers to scan it upon entering and exiting the vehicle. Look:
“Gagawing mandatory ng LTFRB ang paggamit ng StaySafe.ph mobile application para sa passenger contact tracing sa mga PUV, alinsunod sa LTFRB Memorandum Circular No. 2021-041 na inilabas noong ika-21 ng Hunyo 2021 na pinagtibay ng Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) Resolution No. 87, series of 2020,” the agency’s announcement reads.
The LTFRB stressed the use of the StaySafe app should be complementary to COVID-19 health and safety protocols already in place. These include the mandatory use of face masks and face shields, and the one seat apart rule.
In May, the LTFRB also required the use of the Safe, Swift, and Smart Passage (S-Pass) travel management system for inter-regional and inter-provincial bus routes. You can read more about this here.
To be honest, it’s kind of surprising that it’s taken this long for the LTFRB to make a unified contact-tracing app mandatory for PUVs. Do you have the StaySafe app installed on your smartphone yet?
