Manila, May 19 -- Daily passenger traffic at this town's coastal ports has surged to 3,600 since May 15 as travelers avoid the load-restricted San Juanico Bridge connecting Samar and Leyte, officials reported Monday.

The Philippine Coast Guard has reinforced its Basey substation to monitor the increased boat traffic between San Antonio village and Tacloban City, where five passenger vessels now operate every 15 minutes. Each boat carries 120 to 150 passengers at PHP50 per trip.

"After being stranded two days, we moved here when we saw the new route online," trucker Jonathan Deborja, 35, among 100 vehicles queued at Amandayehan village's roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) port, said.

Santa Clara Shipping launched temporary Tacloban-Amandayehan ser...