New coding scheme detailed; 2 groups welcome MMDA plan

“Who would want to go through Edsa during rush hours anyway?”

With this rhetorical question, an official of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said the new scheme being proposed to ease traffic in the capital would “revolutionize” the current number coding system, as he explained the finer points of the draft Road Space Rationing Program (RSRP).

MMDA assistant general manager for operations Emerson Carlos on Friday said vehicles numbers ending in one and two would be banned metrowide on Mondays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.;  five and six on Tuesdays; nine and zero on Wednesdays; three and four on Thursdays, and seven and eight on Fridays. But private vehicles covered by the ban can still be used during “window hours” from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Those with plate numbers ending in thee and four would be banned only in the morning and evening rush hours and only along Edsa on Mondays; seven and eight on Tuesdays; one and two on Wednesdays; five and six on Thursdays, and nine and zero on Fridays. The covered periods would be from 7 to 10 a.m., and from 5 to 8 p.m.

Vehicles barred from using Edsa during these hours may still take other roads, said Carlos, who sought to dispel any misinterpretation that the new scheme would impose a “two-day ban” on vehicles per week.

The RSRP is still subject to the approval of Metro Manila mayors.

Meanwhile, the draft scheme, which initially drew flak from motorists and netizens when first disclosed by MMDA chair Francis Tolentino last week, has earned the support of two transport organizations.

“This would increase passenger load for public utility vehicles as more people will be compelled to take public transportation,” said I-Utak chair Vigor Mendoza.

According to Mendoza, a jeepney operators’ association in San Juan City had been implementing a scheme similar to the RSRP. “They are enjoying an increased income from P500 to P800 a day.”

The president of the Motorcycle Philippines Federation also welcomed the plan. “If we are not covered by it, it would be a big help to us. It would reduce the volume vehicles on Edsa,” Atoy Sta. Cruz said in an interview on Radyo Inquirer.