MMDA eyes total ban of buses on certain routes

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Friday said it was looking to implement a total ban of provincial buses, both northbound and southbound, from certain routes starting on Aug. 15.

The ban, which stemmed from a temporary provincial bus ban that started on July 24 to decongest Edsa, is part of a long-running government effort to drastically reduce the number of public utility vehicles plying the metro’s busiest thoroughfare.

It’s unclear, however, how the ban would ease traffic along Edsa.

MMDA data showed that 300,000 vehicles ply the 25-kilometer Edsa every day, of which 7,000—or a little over 2 percent—were provincial buses.

Should the ban push through, passengers would have to transfer to another mode of transportation—an inconvenience MMDA general manager Jojo Garcia seemed willing to barter in exchange for less vehicles on the roads.

Routes not yet identified

So far, MMDA has yet to identify which routes are to be banned pending consultation with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board.

Garcia said they might ban buses that come in from farther places, like Benguet province in the north or Bicol in the south.

He said that buses from these places ferry passengers that carry more baggage—which meant they took longer to load and unload—than those coming from, for example, Bulacan province.

In the interim, affected buses will have to use the intermodal terminal exchanges in Parañaque, Valenzuela and Sta. Rosa, Laguna, where passengers will transfer to city buses, taxis or UV Express vans.