Metro Briefs

Traffic rerouting set for Edsa-McKinley-Ayala area

To ease traffic in the Edsa-McKinley-Ayala area in Makati City, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will test a rerouting scheme that will allow motorists to bypass the intersection.

Starting Saturday, the MMDA will hold a weeklong dry run of the measure allowing two-way traffic along the Edsa-McKinley Service Road.

At present, a section of the service road that is behind a gasoline station is being used as a jeepney terminal, while the opposite side is where buses going to Taguig City are stationed.

With the opening of the service road to motorists, those coming from Taguig City need not form a queue along McKinley Road to get to the northbound lane of Edsa.

Instead, they could turn right to the access road to merge with the northbound traffic.

Taguig-bound motorists also need not wait at the Edsa-Ayala intersection as they can now turn right at McKinley Exchange and exit at McKinley Road. —Jovic Yee

Naia acts vs ‘solicitors’ in cahoots with abusive cabbies

The Manila International Airport Authority on Wednesday began restricting “solicitors” who approach passengers to offer vehicles for hire, saying they usually lead riders to scheming drivers.

Before the restriction, these solicitors were issued daily passes at Ninoy Aquino International Airport as representatives of car rental concessionaires.

But Miaa general manager Ed Monreal noted that some of them were found in cahoots with abusive taxi drivers who would overcharge passengers.  “The passengers they approach are given the false impression that they are going to take a metered taxi. By the time they are informed of the fixed rates depending on the destination, it is too late for them to back out,” Monreal said. —Jeannette I. Andrade