MMDA eyes ban on driver-only cars anew

MANILA, Philippines — The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is considering proposing again a ban on driver-only vehicles along EDSA before the Metro Manila Council (MMC), an official said Wednesday.

“In the new set of the MMC come July, we will try to propose again the ban on driver-only (vehicles along EDSA),” MMDA’s EDSA traffic discipline zone head Edison Nebrija said in an interview with CNN Philippines.

New mayors would join the MMC, the MMDA’s policy-making body, after they take their oath of office on June 30: Isko Moreno of Manila, Francis Zamora of San Juan, Vico Sotto of Pasig, Joy Belmonte of Quezon City, Lino Cayetano of Taguig and Emi Calixto-Rubiano of Pasay. The rest of the MMC’s members were reelected.

“We will be proposing it again… if they want to improve traffic of EDSA, this is one of the solutions we’re looking at that will greatly improve (EDSA traffic),” he added.

The MMDA suspended the implementation of the high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) scheme policy or MMC Regulation 18-005 in August last year after the Senate, through Resolution 845, appealed for the agency to recall the policy.

Nebrija said the MMDA would comply with the requirements set by the Senate before implementing the policy: public consultations, a public study and a policy on regulating tinted windows on cars.

He said the Land Transportation Office has drawn up guidelines on tint regulation.

Private motor vehicles comprise 85 percent of traffic along EDSA, Nebrija said, noting that if approved, the HOV scheme would reduce traffic volume by 70 percent or 140,000 vehicles.

 “We are not asking to ditch your cars, we are asking you to take other routes so we’re giving EDSA to (cars that are) high-occupancy in nature,” he said.