Bus loading, unloading scheme along Edsa to start Tuesday

MANILA, Philippines — It’s all systems go for bus segregation.

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority has announced over radio that the Bus Segregation Scheme will be fully enforced on Edsa this Tuesday, Dec. 18.

In an interview, Traffic Engineering Center Director Noemi Recio said that buses would be allowed to stop and pick up or unload passengers at their designated areas only.

Currently, city buses are organized into A and B routes, A for Alabang and B for Baclaran. Both types can load and unload at all stops.

In the new bus scheme, buses will be designated according to A, B and C. A-category buses can only load and unload at bus stops with A-designation. B-category buses can load and unload at B-designated stops, while the C-category buses can load and unload at any stop.

According to Recio, it is the operators themselves who have designated the buses for the Category A, B and C.  Eighty percent of the buses are in the categories A and B while the rest are designated C- buses.

Supposedly, the scheme was to begin on Sunday, Dec. 16. But according to MMDA chair Francis Tolentino, they are still waiting for some bus operators “who haven’t yet claimed their stickers.” The MMDA was still fixing some of the bus stops, as of Sunday, he said.