President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday, November 5, led the opening of the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX), which is dubbed as the country’s first landport.
After the official opening of the airport, Duterte toured the landport which will serve as a terminal for buses, jeepneys, UV express, and taxis and will serve as a transfer point among provincial buses from Cavite, Batangas, and in-city modes of transportation.
PITX uses several features that are the same in airports.
Like an airport, the terminal has high-tech ticketing system which gives fare discounts to students, senior citizens, and persons with disabilities.
Meanwhile, for purchasing tickets, passengers can choose their own seat based on availability while the issued ticket will also include the information of the boarding gate and the time of departure. To ensure that passengers are in the right boarding gates, QR codes on the tickets will be scanned.
Other notable similarities between PITX and airports are the screens installed in waiting areas which displays the estimated time of departure and arrival of trips, the separation of the departure and arrival area (for instance, buses’ departure area is on the ground floor while arrival is on the second floor), and security measures such as presence of K-9 dogs and security guards, and installation of CCTV.
PITX can accommodate up to 20,000 passengers daily and is expected to ease traffic in southern Metro Manila particularly in Pasay City and Paranaque City, as it will serve as the transfer point for provincial and in-city transportation.
Photo credit: Entrepreneur.ph
