Starting August 1, the government will not allow provincial buses to enter Epifanio de los Santos Avenue during rush hours in a bid to improve the flow of traffic along the 23.8-kilometer highway.
Jose Arturo Garcia Jr., general manager of the Metro Manila Development Authority, said both northbound and southbound provincial buses will be banned from traversing along EDSA from Pasay City up to Cubao in Quezon City from 7 am to 10 am.and from 6 pm to 9 pm on weekdays.
“The changes were agreed during an emergency meeting with provincial bus operators and other stakeholders recently,” Garcia said.
The MMDA will conduct a dry run activity starting July 24 in connection with the new policy.
As an incentive, Garcia said all provincial buses passing along Edsa are exempted from the United Vehicular Volume Reduction Program or number coding scheme.
“Provincial buses plying C5 Road, streets of Manila, and elsewhere are not covered by the number coding exemption,” he clarified.
Provincial buses coming from the south that do not have terminals in Pasay City are advised to use the agency-operated Southwest Interim Provincial Terminal in Parañaque City.
According to Garcia, they predict a faster turnaround of provincial buses once the regulation is enforced during the morning and evening rush hours.
“We expect that the regulation would speed up travel of private motorists and passenger buses using the yellow lane along Edsa during peak hours,” he said.
The MMDA official said they are also coordinating with Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board on the reduction of passengers’ fare.
Garcia said the regulation will be effective until the three bus terminals being constructed are operational.
These are the bus terminal in Valenzuela set to be operational in August; Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange set to open on September and the bus terminal in Sta. Rosa, Laguna which is set to open in December.
The MMDA came up with the new scheme after members of the Metro Manila Council, the agency’s governing board composed of 17 mayors and local executives in Metro Manila, agreed to its proposal to ease traffic congestion in the metropolis caused by simultaneous road projects in the second half of 2018.
The government is targeting improving the traffic condition in Metro Manila by establishing modern transport hubs outside the metropolis and preventing provincial buses from passing through Edsa.
Three years ago, Metro Manila mayors agreed with the plan to remove bus terminals along Edsa in line with the government's solution to the worsening traffic situation in the National Capital Region.
Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista and Pasay City Mayor Antonio Calixto, whose jurisdiction have the most numbers of bus terminals, were the first local executives who signed the resolution dubbed as "Rationalizing the Operations of Provincial Buses and its Terminals Along Edsa.”
MMDA records show that there are 85 provincial bus companies situated in Metro Manila.
Of the 85 provincial bus companies, 46 firms have terminals on Edsa, particularly in Cubao, Balintawak and Taft Avenue.
Around 3,300 provincial buses and 12,000 city buses pass through Edsa daily.
Traffic in the NCR caused an estimated productivity loss of around P2.4 billion a day or more than P800 billion a year.
Authorities said that with the right policies from the government combined with sacrifices and discipline from the people, the worsening traffic problem in the metropolis will be resolved.