Advice for provincial bus passengers: Avoid Edsa, wait in stations

C-5 MOTORISTS should get used to driving alongside provincial buses in the morning as part of moves to decongest Edsa. LEO M. SABANGAN II

With 135 southbound provincial buses rerouted to C-5 during the morning rush hour, the Provincial Bus Operators Association of the Philippines (PBOA) asked commuters to go to their designated terminals instead of waiting for them on Edsa.

This was the call made by PBOA executive director Alex Yague on Tuesday after several provincial bus drivers complained of fewer passengers on Monday morning.

As part of the Philippine National Police- Highway Patrol Group’s (PNP-HPG) efforts to decongest Edsa upon the instructions of Malacañang starting the other day, provincial buses headed for the South Luzon Expressway (SLEx) toward Southern Luzon and Bicol region have been prohibited from using Edsa between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m.

Instead, they must turn left on Edsa corner P. Tuazon Boulevard going to C-5 and SLEx. Most of these buses come from terminals in Cubao and Kamuning in Quezon City.

In a phone interview, Yague told the Inquirer that their drivers’ main concern following their diversion to C-5 was the drop in the number of passengers.

“From their terminals in Quezon City, they have one more stop along Edsa which is in front of SM Makati where they are allowed to load passengers,” Yague said.

Noting that people were probably not yet aware of the change in their route, he urged riders “to go directly to the provincial bus terminals in Quezon City or in Buendia, Pasay City.”

Yague said that after cooperating with authorities on the Edsa traffic plan, some commuters have observed an improvement in their travel time from Cubao to Ayala in Makati City.

Cabinet Secretary Rene Almendras said during a traffic assessment briefing on Monday that vehicular speed on Edsa improved by five to eight kilometers as a result.

“The southbound buses were instrumental in that development,” Yague said although he noted that they had to make some adjustments on the first day of the rerouting, especially on P. Tuazon Boulevard.

“Apparently, a lot of private cars were also turning left on P. Tuazon from Edsa so traffic [flow in the area] got heavy but when they reached C-5, it was already very smooth,” he said.

MMDA Chair Francis Tolentino said on Monday that the bus rerouting did not affect traffic on C-5 during the morning rush hour since there were no cargo trucks in the area at that time due to the truck ban. The buses were asked to use the lane reserved for trucks on C-5.

Based on the monitoring of the MMDA Metrobase, Monday morning traffic on the thoroughfare was light to moderate as usual.

Asked about the possibility of implementing the bus rerouting scheme in the evening, Tolentino said this was something they have yet to consider. Officials will conduct an assessment of the situation after a week.