THE Metro Manila Development Authority has started implementing the close-door policy for public utility buses to further improve the traffic situation on Epifanio de los Santos Avenue.
Violators, according to MMDA acting chairman Thomas Orbos, will be penalized with P1,000 and the vehicles will be impounded.
The MMDA is also considering imposing the same fine on passengers who will be caught riding the bus outside the designated bus stop.
“I think we have cleaned our enforcement. We mean business. We mean what we say that we will enforce the law,” said Orbos.
MMDA traffic enforcers also bear placards along Edsa reminding bus drivers of the revived scheme.
In 1991, the MMDA enacted Ordinance No. 18 to regulate the use of selected bus stops along Edsa and other major bus routes in Metro Manila.
The ordinance provides that “doors of moving buses shall remain closed in between designated stops to avoid loading and unloading of passengers.”
It stated that most of the drivers blatantly violate the same thus impeding the smooth flow of traffic and sometimes causing road accidents.
Section 1 of the Ordinance also stated “Doors of Moving Buses” must at all times be properly maintained and in good physical condition.
For buses with only one door which are mechanically and electrically operated, the driver must see to it that it is kept closed except in specified loading and unloading zones.
For buses with two doors, the front door must be controlled/operated by the driver and the back door must be controlled by the conductor to ensure that these are kept closed in between designated bus stops. Owners of buses with physical defects will be penalized.
The MMDA is deploying additional 200 personnel to augment the 300-man force managing the traffic flow along Edsa following the pullout of personnel of the Police-Highway Patrol Group and turn over the traffic control of the 23.8 kilometers to the MMDA.
It is also fully implementing the Anti-Jaywalking policy after observing that undisciplined pedestrians openly disregard pedestrian lanes and warning signage. Violators will be slapped with a P500 fine.
Instead of risking their lives crossing the street, the MMDA urged the public to use footbridges.
At least 100 footbridges had been built around Metro Manila. More than half were constructed by the MMDA, while the rest were built by the local government units.
“Everyday we do our best. What I am telling to our people is let us just do what we could everyday. There’s no time even to listen to criticisms. Let’s still go back with what we are supposed to do. We need to do our part to maintain it, not because that we have it,” said Orbos.