THE Metro Manila Development Authority on Monday advised motorists and commuters to brace for heavy traffic in the metropolis on Dec. 22, the last Friday and working day before Christmas, due to the influx of last-minute shoppers and people going to the provinces.
“Expect heavy traffic this Friday. If you get angry easily it’s better not to leave home,” said MMDA assistant general manager for planning Jose Arturo Garcia Jr.
MMDA officials also advised the people to do their Christmas shopping early and to try to avoid the holiday rush. Shoppers should visit the commercial centers nearest their homes to avoid being trapped in traffic jams.
They said shopping malls and other commercial establishments were traffic generators during the Christmas holidays.
Mall operators earlier agreed with the MMDA proposal to adjust their business hours to ease road congestion during the peak buying season.
Garcia said his agency will deploy 2,600 traffic enforcers in three shifts, and 400 of them will manage traffic on seven identified choke points on Epifanio de los Santos Avenue.
Meanwhile, the MMDA decided to extend until the second week of January next year the dry run for the implementation of the High Occupancy Vehicle lane, a scheme formulated to encourage motorists to engage in ride-sharing and further improve traffic along Edsa.
Garcia said heavily-tinted vehicles using the lane prevented the agency from apprehending possible violators.
“Almost 4,000 tinted vehicles used the lane. This is our challenge,” he said.
The new traffic measure bars vehicles with a single rider or occupancy from traversing the HOV lane, which is the innermost lane of Edsa and closest to the Metro Railway Transit Line 3 wall.
The MMDA made the move after members of the Metro Manila Council, the agency’s governing board and policy-making body, rejected the proposal of lawmakers to implement an odd-even scheme along Edsa.
With the new scheme, the agency is hoping to reduce by 30 percent the number of private vehicles traversing Edsa.
The MMDA, however, said HOV vehicles were still subject to the number coding scheme.
Should the HOV measure be fully implemented, violators will be slapped with a P500 fine for disregarding the traffic sign.