The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), in collaboration with the Land Transportation Office (LTO), has finalized its traffic code for single ticketing system.
Officials of the two agencies approved the final draft of the Metro Manila Traffic Code in the National Capital Region.
During a meeting on Thursday, the technical working group agreed on the final 20 most common traffic violation penalties which will be imposed uniformly in all Metro Manila local government units and interconnectivity requirements with the LTO’s Land Transportation Management System (LTMS).
MMDA chair Romando Artes said the MMDA will provide the fund for the purchase of the hardware and I.T requirements needed for seamless and simultaneous rollout of the LGU’s integration with the LTMS.
“We will conduct an inventory of each LGUs with regards their respective systems and equipment for the planned interconnectivity with the LTO database for them to have access on the motorists’ records,” Artes said.
“After a series of consultations with the LGUs and the transport sector, we have also finalized the standardized fines and penalties for the most common traffic violations such as disregarding traffic signs, illegal parking, and number coding, among others,” he added.
Artes also said that the single ticketing system “will resolve some issues raised in the NCAP petition which is now pending in the Supreme Court and issues on the confiscation of driver’s license. The proposed system will also benefit motorists because it will provide ease of payment through digital payment channels which can be used by apprehended motorists anywhere.”
San Juan City Mayor and concurrent Metro Manila Council (MMC) president Francis Zamora said the Traffic Code is unanimously agreed upon by the TWG and will be discussed at the next MMC meeting.
“We are confident that the Metro mayors will pass a resolution approving this. After the council’s approval, each LGUs will have to draft or amend their respective ordinances adapting standardized fines on the identified common traffic violations,” Zamora said.
The two officials, however, emphasized that it is still up to the LGUs to create their own ordinances for other traffic-related offenses which are not stipulated in the traffic code as part of their local autonomy.
Meanwhile, LTO regional director Noreen San Luis-Lutey said that the LGU interconnectivity to the LTMS is mandated by law with the purpose to create a single database for traffic violations across the metropolis.
The proposed single ticketing system is expected to be fully implemented within the first quarter of this year.