The Department of Transportation’s (DOTr) “Free Ride Service for Health Workers” program has given over 2 million free rides since it first began in March last year.

In a Facebook post, the DOTr said a total of 2,009,464 free rides have been given across the country as of Sunday — 555,780 total ridership in the National Capital Region (NCR) and 1.4 million in Regions 1, 2, 4A, 4B, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, the Cordillera Administrative Region, and Caraga Region.

“Umabot sa kabuuang bilang na 31 vehicle units ang na-deploy para sa libreng sakay (There are now 31 vehicle units deployed that provide these free rides),” the DOTr said.

For health workers in NCR, they may visit https://covid19.sakay.ph to view the 20 routes plied by free ride buses.

“Katuwang din ng DOTr sa programa ang Petron Corporation, na nagbibigay ng fuel subsidy sa mga transport companies na kasali sa inisyatibo (DOTr has partnered with the Petron Corporation that provides fuel subsidy to transport companies which joined the initiative),” the DOTr said.

In addition, it said all medical workers remain to have toll-free access to all expressways in Luzon.

Almost 490,000 OFWs assisted by One-Stop Shops

Meanwhile, a total of 489,596 overseas Filipino workers (OFW) have now been assisted by the government’s One-Stop Shops (OSS) at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminals 1, 2, and 3 as of Sunday.

Of the total, the DOTr in an advisory said 190,369 were assisted at the NAIA Terminal 2 since it was activated on April 25, 157,577 at the NAIA Terminal 1 since April 23, and 141,650 at the NAIA Terminal 3 since July 9.

It said the OSS has assisted 121,951 overseas Filipinos and tourists.

The OSS is a joint initiative of the DOTr and several other national government agencies that aims to assist OFWs in identifying possible isolation facilities for their mandatory quarantine. (PNA)