MMDA: No more jeepneys on EDSA

MANILA, Philippines - Beginning next week, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will ban jeepneys from EDSA to address the traffic nightmare in Metro Manila, an official said yesterday.

 “We will start to regulate jeepney in EDSA by next week. The entire stretch, but we will begin taking them out here in Guadalupe (in Makati City),” MMDA officer-in-charge Tim Orbos said.

He said that they will clear Guadalupe of illegal vendors and illegally parked vehicles so the barangay’s inner roads can be used as alternate routes for jeepneys.

Last week, Orbos met with leaders of transport groups Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines (FEJODAP) and the Liga ng Transportasyon at Operators sa Pilipinas (LTOP), the groups with the most number of jeepney drivers operating on EDSA.

FEJODAP president Zeny Maranan and LTOP president Orlando Marquez have agreed with the MMDA to prohibit jeepney drivers from using the entire stretch of EDSA, he said.

More than 1,000 jeepneys will be affected by the MMDA ban, according to Orbos.

“The transport groups’ cooperation only shows that they also want to become part of the solution to the traffic problem in Metro Manila,” Orbos said.

He said the MMDA is still looking for alternate routes for the affected jeepneys.

Orbos said the lanes used by the jeepneys on EDSA will now be utilized by buses and other vehicles.

He said the areas occupied by jeepney drivers would be used by provincial buses to comply with the MMDA’s “nose in, nose out” policy, which bars these vehicles from maneuvering on EDSA when they enter and leave their respective terminals.

The MMDA will also soon remove jeepneys from Pasay Rotonda and Ayala Avenue.

Orbos said he is optimistic that the barangay officials of Guadalupe and the transport groups will comply with what they have agreed upon.

He said the MMDA will neither impose fines nor  apprehend drivers who will defy with the order since they have not yet reached an agreement on that point.