More than 1,500 drivers were flagged down and have been warned during the first day of the reimplementation of the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program (UVVRP) or the number coding scheme.
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) reactivated the campaign beginning Monday (Aug. 15) to ease traffic in the National Capital Region amid the expected increase in the volume of vehicles upon the resumption of face-to-face classes on Aug. 22.
According to the MMDA – Public Information Office, traffic enforcers have flagged down a total of 1,588 violators from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday. But no penalties were imposed against them, and were just reminded about the resumption of the policy.
Most of the violators were caught along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue where a large number of vehicles was observed.
MMDA Task Force Special Operations chief Edison Nebrija said there will be no penalties for the first three days of the implementation.
“We will dedicate this for public information.”
But from Aug. 18 onwards, the MMDA will start apprehending and will issue traffic violation tickets on ground and through our non-contact apprehension policy.
The policy is being enforced in the National Capital Region effective August 15, from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays except holidays.
Under the scheme, vehicles with license plates ending in 1 and 2 are prohibited on Monday, 3 and 4 on Tuesday, 5 and 6 on Wednesday, 7 and 8 on Thursday, 9 and 0 on Friday during the said coding hours.
The re-implementation of the number coding scheme in the NCR will reduce traffic volume by twenty percent (20%) during the morning and afternoon/evening peak hours.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the average number of vehicles plying EDSA daily was at 405,000.
Based on the latest vehicle volume count conducted by the MMDA Traffic Engineering Center on August 4, approximately 387,000 vehicles traversed EDSA. The volume is expected to balloon to 436,000 or higher than pre-pandemic level.
Exempted from the UVVRP are public utility vehicles (including tricycles), transport network vehicle services, motorcycles, garbage trucks, fuel trucks, marked government vehicles, fire trucks, ambulances, marked media vehicles, and motor vehicles carrying essential and/or perishable goods.
Meanwhile, existing number coding ordinances of the respective local government units will prevail on secondary roads.