MMDA: ‘Expect traffic buildup on Edsa’

EXPECT more buses on Edsa beginning today (Monday), the start of a three-day exodus for Metro Manila residents going home to their provinces for the Holy Week break, with the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) granting provisional permits to at least 100 city buses.

According to the MMDA, the special permits allow the buses to ply routes outside the metropolis in consideration of the anticipated huge number of people expected to head for the countryside.

Without terminals to accommodate the additional buses, MMDA Assistant General Manager for operations Emerson Carlos said these vehicles would be allowed to use the loading bays on Edsa as pickup points.

Normally, the MMDA permits the loading of passengers bound for the provinces only in bus terminals.

Over the radio, Carlos advised bus drivers and operators who were given the provisional permits to display the document prominently on the windshield of their vehicles so that these could be easily spotted by MMDA traffic enforcers.

“We will also give our enforcers copies of the list of buses which the [Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board] gave provisional franchises [to],” he said.

He added that enforcers would also be on the lookout for drivers who might take advantage of the situation and ply provincial routes without a permit from the LTFRB.

At the same time, Carlos reiterated that the suspension of the number coding scheme would begin tomorrow (Tuesday) to allow motorists to leave the metropolis anytime. The lifting of the traffic reduction scheme applies to all national roads, except those in Makati City.

The Makati City government said it would continue to implement the number coding scheme on Tuesday and Wednesday and suspend it on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday as these are legal holidays.

Number coding will resume on Monday next week.