MMDA: Traffic situation still manageable, for now

THE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority is not keen on lifting the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program or number coding scheme amid the ongoing transport strike and the traffic woes brought by the holiday rush.

MMDA Assistant General Manager for Operations David Angelo Vargas said the traffic situation in the metropolis remains manageable, for now.

“Personally, I think there is no need to suspend the number coding since the traffic situation is still manageable,” Vargas said in a television interview.

Vargas said the agency is closely monitoring the traffic situation, especially along major roadways such as EDSA and C5.

Under the number coding scheme, vehicles with license plates ending in 1 and 2 are prohibited on major streets on Mondays, 3 and 4 on Tuesdays, 5 and 6 on Wednesdays, 7 and 8 on Thursdays, and 9 and 0 on Fridays during coding hours.

Exempted from the UVVRP are public utility vehicles, including tricycles, transport network vehicle services, motorcycles, garbage trucks, fuel trucks, marked government vehicles, fire trucks, ambulances, marked media vehicles, and motor vehicles carrying essential and or perishable goods.

MMDA Chairperson Romando Artes said the suspension of the number coding scheme will add 20 percent more vehicles on the roadways, which translates to around 800 more vehicles on EDSA and 400 more on C5.

The agency has deployed 2,400 traffic enforcers to manage the flow of traffic this holiday season.

Vargas said they have also lengthened the duty of traffic enforcers, adding they are out on the streets until midnight and have no days off.

The agency had earlier reported an increase of around 10,000 to 15,000 in the volume of vehicles along major thoroughfares in the metropolis, especially during rush hours, since the start of December.

Vargas said they expect the flow of traffic to improve next week since many residents of Metro Manila will be in the provinces to spend the holiday season.