Drop in Edsa car volume seen

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is expecting a reduction of around 20 percent in the volume of private vehicles on Edsa with the full implementation of the “no window hours” policy starting today, Oct. 17.

The policy which scraps the 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. window hours under the number coding scheme will be enforced on Edsa, C5 Road, Alabang-Zapote Road and Roxas Boulevard. Aside from these thoroughfares, there are no window hours in the cities of Mandaluyong, Las Piñas and Makati.

A three-day dry run was conducted from Oct. 12 to 14 with violators let off with just a warning instead of being issued traffic tickets.

MMDA spokesperson Celine Pialago said that 627 motorists received a warning on Oct. 12 and 1,330 on Oct. 13. According to MMDA Metrobase data, 1,107 violators were given a warning on Oct. 14.

Under the number coding scheme, vehicles are banned from major roads from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. based on the last digit of their license plate: 1 and 2 on Monday, 3 and 4 on Tuesday, 5 and 6 on Wednesday, 7 and 8 on Thursday, and 9 and 0 on Friday.

Scrapping the private vehicles’ window hours aims to ease traffic flow in anticipation of the holiday season. It will be in effect until Jan. 31 and violators face a P300 fine.

During the MMDA’s Sunday radio program, Pialago said that the Interagency Council on Traffic had proposed to ban trucks from making deliveries to malls during peak hours starting on Nov. 1. Under the proposal, deliveries would be allowed only from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.

Malls, on the other hand, can hold mall-wide sales only on weekends from Nov. 1 until Jan. 9.