MMDA: Number coding may lead to PUV crowding, trigger COVID infections

(Niño Jesus Orbeta/Philippine Daily Inquirer / FILE)

MANILA, Philippines — The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is not inclined the to reimpose the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program (UVRP)  or number coding scheme in the metropolis as it could overwhelm the public transportation system and trigger a risein COVID-19 infections.

MMDA Chairman Benhur Abalos on Thursday pointed out that once the number coding scheme is reimplemented, those who are unable to use their cars would add to the volume of people using public transportion.

This, coupled with the fact that public utility vehicles (PUVs) such as jeeps and buses can only accommodate 50% of their total passenger capacity inn accordance with health protocols, could lead to longer queues and overloading and could be a ripe venue for COVID-19 transmission.

“Kaya na ba ng public transport natin ang mga pasahero? Kung minsan mahaba ang queue, mahaba ang pila. Pipila sila, hahalo sila ng pila sa mga PUVs, baka maging sanhi pa ng hahawaan ng sakit,” he added.

(Can our public transport system accommodate the huge volume of passengers? There are times that lines are long, which could cause transmission.)

(Niño Jesus Orbeta/Philippine Daily Inquirer)

“Kung ipapatupad uli natin ang number coding, baka ang mangyari ay magsiksikan sa kotse dahil hindi na makakagamit pati pamilya at kaibigan so baka lalong magspread ang virus,” he added.

(If we reimpose the number coding scheme, there could be overloading in public vehicles so the virus could further spread.)

Abalos earlier said traffic in Metro Manila is still  manageable, so there is no reason yet to reimplement the number coding scheme.

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