MMDA: Car volume up as F2F classes resume

MANILA, Philippines — There has been an uptick in the volume of vehicles plying major roads in Metro Manila since the school year started, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said yesterday.

There was a 14-percent increase in car volume along Ortigas Avenue, a 15-percent increase along Aurora Boulevard and a 6.7-percent growth in the number of vehicles going through EDSA since face-to-face classes resumed in late August, acting MMDA Chairman Romando Artes said.

The MMDA has yet to finish its study on the daily average car volume along EDSA, Artes noted. The figure stands at an average of 427,000 vehicles daily.

The agency will put in place measures to address heavier vehicular traffic as the Christmas season approaches, he declared.

Artes said the MMDA will enforce a ban on excavations such as road reblocking, pipe-laying and road upgrading. However, priority government projects will be excluded from the ban.

The agency would also require shopping malls in Metro Manila to hold mall-wide sales and other events on weekends, adjust their business hours and submit their traffic management plans, he added.

The policies will take effect from Nov. 13 to Jan. 8, 2024, according to Artes.

Meanwhile, the MMDA will also assist in maintaining order during the observance of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day with the deployment of a total of 1,448 field personnel, Artes said.

The field personnel, along with ambulances and tents, will be sent to public cemeteries in Metro Manila.

Artes also appealed to motorists to consider keeping their vehicles at home and instead use public transportation like the EDSA Bus Carousel, train systems and the Pasig River ferry service to avoid contributing to heavier vehicular traffic during the holiday season.