MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATE) The Metro Manila Council (MMC), the policy-making body of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) composed of the mayors of 16 cities and one town in the metropolis, on Friday decided to shelve the proposal to implement the odd-even scheme for private vehicles and city and provincial buses along Edsa in a move to decongest traffic in the major thoroughfare.
Experimental basis
In its place, the MMC agreed to include public utility buses (PUBs) in the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program (UVVRP), the number coding scheme, on an experimental basis starting mid-November.
PUBs were covered by the UVVRP until 2004 when then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered their exemption upon the urging of bus operators.
Special committee
The MMC also decided to create a special committee on traffic to be headed by Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista, co-chaired by Marikina Mayor Del de Guzman.
The committee was tasked to craft guidelines on the UVVRP on buses, in close coordination with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).
MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said the odd-even proposal was brought out following an evaluation of a study by the University of the Philippines’ National Center for Transportation Studies, which found that even under the current number coding scheme, Edsa private lanes had breached their maximum carrying capacity.
Another study conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency yielded findings that Edsa could physically accommodate up to 1,600 buses; around 3,800 city franchised buses currently use the Edsa route.
Innovative measures
The council deemed it best to explore other innovative measures aimed at reducing the traffic problem, such as including public buses in the current UVVRP or number coding scheme, he said.
It also resolved to step up traffic enforcement measures and drivers’ education, and crafting an Urban Transport Code of Corporate Social Responsibility, taking into consideration the welfare of the people, the MMDA chair added.
During a consultation with bus operators recently, bus operators expressed their willingness to be covered by the existing number coding scheme.
World Bank report
The MMDA also cited a 2009 World Bank report which estimated that traffic along Edsa and other major thoroughfares in Metro Manila cost the economy at least P277 million daily, or approximately $2 billion a year in terms of lost man-hours.
Present during Friday’s meeting were Mayors Bautista, Sherwin Gatchalian of Valenzuela, Enrico Echeverri of Caloocan, John Rey Tiangco of Navotas, Del de Guzman of Marikina, Benhur Abalaos of Mandaluyong, Alfredo Lim of Manila and Jaime Medina of the Municipality of Pateros.
Caloocan Vice Mayor and concurrent president of the Vice Mayor’s League of the Philippines Edgardo Erice and Councilors’ League of the Philippines president Serafin Bernardo also attended the meeting.
Stakeholders
Bautista said they would also consult the stakeholders -- from commuters to operators to drivers -- since there are many issues that need to be addressed first before any scheme is implemented.
The council initially planned to implement the odd-even scheme from November 15 to Jan. 15, 2011, but Abalos proposed that the number coding scheme for city buses be implemented in the meantime.
“There are many inputs that should be considered, so we cannot just impose it right away. The MMDA should find other ways how to decongest traffic along Edsa, like banning colorum (operating with no franchise) buses,” he said.
Bautista’s special committee is planning to finish its study and come up with a comprehensive traffic management plan by the end of the year.
The plan, he added, would serve as a “general framework” for traffic management policy in heavily congested Metro Manila, and will include the study of the proposed odd-even scheme.
Bautista added that they would confer with the LTFRB regarding the issue of franchises of buses traveling along Edsa.
“The LTFRB should strictly implement the regulation on the franchise of the buses. It should suspend the issuance of franchises to buses to those whose franchises have already expired. That is one way of reducing the number of vehicles plying the Edsa route,” he added.
