NLEX posts new traffic volume record

MANILA, Philippines - Motorists who took a trip last week to the provinces in Central and Northern Luzon for the Lenten Season again broke the traffic volume chart of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), according to figures released by the Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC) builder and concessionaire of NLEX.

Wednesday’s traffic registered the most number of travelers using NLEX in one day. Coming in second were Tuesday’s motorists with 212,116, and coming in third were Thursday’s travelers with 206,696, the report said.

Wednesday was the last working day of the week while some companies declared half-day work.

Interestingly, last year’s Lenten motorist volume at NLEX also hit its highest on Wednesday with 224,012 motorists. Also coming in second were Tuesday’s travelers numbering 201,139. Wednesday showed the most number of NLEX travelers for the past two years.

 “Although some Filipinos chose to stay home during the Holy week, this figure says that more and more Filipinos have opted to travel to make the most of their time off from school and work,” said Marlene Ochoa, MNTC vice-president for corporate communications.

“Aside from the travel bug that apparently bit the travelers, population growth had also something to do with it,” she added. The Philippine population, according to the National Statistics Office (NSO), stood at 92.23 million in 2009 and 94.13 million for the first quarter of 2010.

Data also released by MNTC showed that 57.7 percent of motorists were north-bound while 38.8 percent went south. Most of them were students on their summer vacation and employees taking advantage of the long weekend.

Summer destinations in the north, like Pagudpud in Ilocos Norte, Hundred Islands in Pangasinan, Baguio, and retreat places for pilgrims were the hot spots during the last weekend.

“We are glad that more and more motorists have noted the benefits of less travel time and gas savings using NLEX for long road trips to destinations of the north of Manila,” said Ms. Ochoa.