THE Cebu Integrated Transport Service Multipurpose Cooperative (Citrasco) said it will establish a Driver’s Academy to promote professionalism among local drivers.
Citrasco Chairman and General Manager Ryan Benjamin Yu is hoping the academy will open before the year ends.
Citrasco operates more than 300 taxi units; 1,000 jeepneys; 18 vans-for-hire; and 10 V-Hire units. It said it has seen the importance of teaching drivers good manners and good driving habits.
Yu made it clear the establishment of the academy has nothing to do with the existence of the Transport Network Vehicle Services (TNVS), such as Uber and Grab, as its operations have not affected the taxi-transport business.
Citrasco is not against the operation of TNVS, but Yu maintained its stand that such operation should also be regulated, just like the taxi operation, in order to achieve fair playing field.
Professionalizing the service standard of drivers across commercial-transport units is a necessary vehicle to upgrade the service of Cebu’s public-transport industry, he said.
The Department of Tourism (DOT) in Central Visayas had earlier trained over 100 drivers, specifically those servicing the yellow airport taxis.
In tourism, stakeholders have been pushing to promote tourism culture for taxi drivers, as they are the direct front liners of the tourism industry.
“It’s very important that visitors should be handled carefully, as Cebu is positioning itself as a world-class destination, and international gateway to tourist attractions in the Southern Philippines,” former DOT-7 Director Patria Aurora Roa said.
Roa is now a current tourism consultant for Cebu province.
The now defunct Cebu Investments and Promotions Center had attempted to inculcate the culture of tourism in Cebu for taxi drivers.
Seminars were also conducted for taxi drivers to behave politely and adopt a good customer-service attitude not only to tourists but to all their passengers.