Commuting health workers get live tracking updates for DoTR free bus ride service

POSTED BY: LIONELL Go MACAHILIG
2020-05-31 18:13:02 PHT

The Department of Transportation (DOTR), in partnership with PLDT Enterprise and Vectras, Inc., recently deployed Smart tracking solutions to its bus units serving health workers to aid them in their daily travel going to and from different hospitals across Metro Manila.

Through this service, frontliners get to see the exact GPS locations of their free shuttle service from the DOTR plying their designated routes going to hospitals. It will allow them to track available bus routes through Sakay.ph and locator links found on DOTR’s Facebook page—helping them better manage their commuting routine and serve their respective hospitals.

"Frontliners need all the help they can get now more than ever. This solution from the DOTRcan really give our health workers the convenience to help them travel to their respective hospitals and attend to their patients," said PLDT CRO and Smart President Al Panlilio.

There are currently 80 bus units plying 20 routes which go through 19 hospitals that are visible for frontliners. Through the following link (which is also available on DOTR’s Facebook page), frontliners will be given visibility on the current location of the buses are along DOTR’s bus routes:

https://bit.ly/DOTrFrontlineShuttleMap
 
This locator link is also integrated with information from Sakay.ph app and will show available routes, schedule, and stops of DOTR’s buses.

The DOTr has announced to deploy more than 150 buses daily in Metro Manila to serve more health workers in their transportation needs. PLDT Enterprise by far has installed the GPS location tracker devices in 80 buses and will augment the additional buses with more units in the coming days.

With this partnership, PLDT Enterprise paves the way for the local transportation sector to adopt IoT technologies in providing commuters a more efficient riding experience—enabling them to have a real-time view of bus routes, trip schedules and other innovative features. Such endeavor is among the many initiatives kickstarted by the group to accelerate the development of the local IoT ecosystem. 

This service is another addition to the collective bayanihan efforts of the PLDT group and the MVP Group of companies in providing aid to different government agencies in their tasks of implementing the necessary programs to control the spread of the virus and still service the general public amid the ECQ challenges.

“We would like to thank PLDT for partnering with us in this technological endeavor. This project is a great boost to our health workers and frontliners, as it allows them to easily monitor the location of their shuttle services, as well as its estimated time of arrival. With this, they will be able to efficiently plan their trips to and from the hospitals. These are only little things that we can offer to them, compared to the huge help and sacrifice that they offer to our country. They are our modern heroes,” DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade said.