MMDA prepared for school opening traffic

MANILA, Philippines - The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is prepared to deal with traffic jams that may occur in the metropolis as schools start classes tomorrow, an official said yesterday. 

MMDA Traffic Discipline Office (TDO) head Crisanto Saruca said the agency has laid out its traffic management plan three weeks ago as 2.5 million students are expected to troop to various schools in Metro Manila.

“We have already coordinated with the schools,” he said. 

As part of its traffic management plan, Saruca said the MMDA would deploy 1,000 traffic management personnel and have ambulances and their crews on standby near big schools, such as at Manila’s university belt, Taft Avenue and Ortigas and Katipunan Avenues.

Additional traffic enforcers would also be deployed along EDSA and along Ramon Magsaysay Avenue in Manila, Saruca said.

Saruca expects traffic to be manageable tomorrow as some schools have started classes on June 6 while others announced they will start the schoolyear in August.

He admitted that the start of the senior high school program has made the agency’s traffic management plan a bit complicated as it would mean additional students with vehicles.

“This is not a problem at the university belt area as students there take public transportation,” he said.

Saruca said the MMDA would be strict in going after illegally parked vehicles in Ortigas, where La Salle Greenhills and Saint Pedro Poveda College are located.

According to Saruca, vehicles are not allowed to park along Ortigas Avenue and are given only 15 seconds to pick up or drop off passengers at the school. 

Saruca said drivers who will linger in the area would be issued traffic violation tickets for illegal parking while vehicles that will be left unattended will be towed away.

To avoid any inconvenience, Saruca advised parents to familiarize themselves with the traffic flow layout of their children’s schools before the opening of classes.

As part of preparations for the opening of classes tomorrow, the MMDA has also repainted pedestrian lanes within the immediate vicinity of schools in the metropolis.

The MMDA repainted a total of 700 pedestrian lanes and repaired defective traffic lights.