A Guide for Metro Manila Drivers…

For motorists who, once and for all, would want to know how the Unified Vehicle Volume Reduction Program (UVVRP) really works in Metro Manila, read on.

The scheme, known to many as the coding system, can be quite confusing because some cities in the metropolis modified it. Basically, under the UVVRP, the last digit numbers of the license plates of both private and public utility vehicles determine which day their units are banned from using all roads as well as inner streets for an entire day. Those ending in 1 and 2 are banned on Mondays, 3 and 4 on Tuesdays, 5 and 6 on Wednesdays, 7 and 8 on Thursdays and 9 and 0 on Fridays.

The UVVRP, which is implemented by the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) in coordination with respective local Government units (LGUs), does not apply to Saturdays and Sundays. It is also automatically lifted or suspended during holidays which means that there is no need to ask the agency over and over again the question "may coding ba bukas".

After some time, the MMDA decided to establish so-called window hours which allow coding vehicles to use all roads during non-rush hours which was set at 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. This is where much of the confusion comes from since not all Metro Manila cities and municipalities allow window hours because of traffic considerations. All other Metro Manila cities and municipalities have window hours except for Makati City and San Juan — which means that coding vehicles should keep off these city’s streets even during the 10am to 3pm period.

Information gathered from the MMDA also note that the UVVRP is not implemented in Pasig City at all while in Mandaluyong, the UVVRP is in full effect with window hours honored only in the Ortigas area.

To further guide them, motorists should also know that each LGU has its own group of traffic enforcers working in team-up with MMDA personnel.

Knowing what color traffic enforcers wear in each city and municipality will let a driver know where he is just by simply finding a traffic aide and looking at his or her uniform. Pasay, Muntinlupa, Caloocan, and Malabon traffic aides wear blue while those in Pateros wear uniforms that combine the colors blue and black. Makati City’s traffic men wear yellow and white, Mandaluyong white, San Juan orange, Las Piñas peach, and Valenzuela and Quezon City yellow. Marikina, Paranaque, and Taguig traffic aides all wear green while those in Navotas wear uniforms of combined green, yellow, and red. Traffic personnel in Manila, the country’s capital city, wear avocado green while those in Pasig City are in chocolate colored attire.

MMDA traffic enforcers manning traffic alongside traffic enforcers from each LGU wear nothing else but blue with patches that say that they are from the MMDA.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The MMDA has suspended the UVVRP until January 1. The rules explaned in this article apply again beginning January 2.