Local government chief executives on Tuesday gave Metro Manila Development Authority the go-signal to enforce two traffic-mitigating measures that would affect both private and public utility vehicles along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue
The two traffic measures are the policy regulating provincial buses and the high occupancy vehicle lanes.
Members of the Metro Manila Council, composed of mayors in the National Capital Region and the MMDA’s policy-making body and governing board, formally gave their all-out support to the agency’s plan during its regular council meeting held in Mandaluyong City.
In spite of the approval, MMDA general manager Jose Arturo Garcia Jr. said they are still contemplating whether to push for the provincial bus regulation policy’s implementation on Aug. 15.
“Mayor Rex Gatchalian gave his 100- percent support. However, we have to fix some facilities and other infrastructure at the Valenzuela Interim Terminal. We are not in a hurry to implement the policy as we want to make sure everything is in order,” Garcia told reporters after the meeting.
Under the plan, select provincial buses coming from the north shall end its route at the Valenzuela Interim Terminal while those coming from the south shall end their route at South Interim Provincial Terminal.
Garcia said they predict a faster turnaround of provincial buses once the regulation is enforced.
Meanwhile, the Metro Manila mayors also approved the implementation of the HOV lanes along Edsa during rush hours. The MMDA floated the idea of implementing this last year to maximize the movement of people rather than vehicles by giving them exclusive lanes along Edsa.
Under the measure, only those vehicles with two or more passengers would have the privilege to traverse Edsa.
“We have a data that 70 percent of vehicles along Edsa carry only the driver,” said Garcia.
Garcia said they will craft the guidelines of the measure and will conduct a dry run before its full implementation.
“We hope to encourage carpooling with the HOV scheme,” said Garcia.
Also, the MMC approved the increase in exemption fee for the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program from P300 to 1,000.
Local chief executives present during the meeting were Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista, Makati City Mayor Abigail Binay, Pateros Mayor Miguel Ponce III, San Juan City Mayor Guia Gomez, Valenzuela City Mayor Rex Gatchalian, Malabon City Mayor Antolin Oreta, Muntinlupa City Mayor Jaime Fresnedi, Las Pinas City Mayor Imelda Aguilar, Pasay City Mayor Antonino Calixto, and Navotas City Mayor John Rey Tiangco.