MMDA again blames rising volume of vehicles for worsening Edsa traffic

MANILA, Philippines — The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has blamed anew the record number of vehicles for the worsening traffic jam at Edsa.

During the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum on Wednesday, MMDA spokesperson Celine Pialago also belied allegations that the agency has been handling Edsa traffic poorly now compared to the previous administrations.

“Isa pa sa nagpapadagdag sa bigat ng trapiko at pinaka-number one po sa lahat, (vehicular) volume.  I keep on saying this para po sa mga nagmamagaling, iba noon, iba ngayon,” Pialago told reporters.

“Noon ho ang pinag-uusapan natin 200,000 vehicles daily in Edsa.  Now we’re talking about 386,000 to 402,000 daily in Edsa. Magkaibang bagay po ‘yon,” she added.

Pialogo also said that 10,000 vehicles more are added in the current monthly volume of cars using Edsa.

“Ang carrying capacity po talaga ng Edsa dapat nasa 235,000 lang ang dadaan. Unfortunately, ngayon po doble na siya, no’ng nagsimula po ako sa MMDA 320,000 pa lang po ‘yong figures na binabanggit ko,” she explained.

According to MMDA’s traffic czar Bong Nebrija, there are several measures that can be taken to reduce the volume of vehicles in Edsa. Among these are the unified number coding, requiring garage prior to purchase of cars, and transferring government offices to Clark in Pampanga.

“We welcome this (proposal to transfer government to Clark) pero syempre titignan din po natin ito kasi syempre long term ito.  ‘Yong mga taong nasa gobyerno ngayon eh dito na nakatira, palilipatin mo ng Clark, that’s another question,” Nebrija said.

“Kung pu-puwedeng maglabas ng batas para magkaroon tayo ng volume reduction, we welcome that […] whether it be a provincial bus ban we need to make a moratorium on car sales, i-limit ‘yong mga dumadaan sa Edsa,” he added.

READ: DILG to ask Congress to pass law on ‘no garage, no car’ policy

MMDA has been receiving flak for allegedly “experimenting” on Edsa, where transport congestion has been getting worse.

Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto earlier said MMDA policies on Edsa were adversely affecting the traffic situation in areas under his jurisdiction, including C-5; while Senator Kiko Pangilinan has branded MMDA’s implementation of various rules on Edsa as “anti-people.”

READ: Vico Sotto says MMDA policies for Edsa worsened traffic in Pasig

READ: Stop this ‘anti-people’ experiment on Edsa traffic, Pangilinan tells MMDA

READ: Senators: Edsa bus ban proposal flawed

MMDA recently tried to ban provincial buses on Edsa, a policy that would let passengers from the countryside disembark at designated terminals faraway from the downtown. A Quezon City court has stopped its implementation last week. /kga