MMDA to hold hearings on 'carless days'

We're dead serious about it.

This seems to be the stern stand of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on its plan for a "carless day" in Metro Manila, in spite of the mounting protests from the motoring public.

MMDA Chairman Jejomar Binay told reporters yesterday that public hearings will be conducted to solicit the inputs of the public and used in the plan's mechanism.

He disclosed that the first hearing will be Wednesday next week (April 5). Metro Manila mayors and private motorist groups have been invited to attend.

"The MMDA will make the methodology, after experiments, before the implementation of the program," said Binay.

He added that a pilot-test of the carless day will be conducted in small areas of the metropolis. "The University of the Philippines is already practicing a carless day in its campus, so why can't we do it too?" he asked.

The MMDA chief explained that the carless scheme is meant to address the growing air pollution in Metro Manila attributed to smoke belching of motor vehicles.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) previously noted that around 90 percent of air pollution comes from motor vehicles, diesel engines in particular.

It was also learned that 70 percent of motor vehicles plying the roads are privately owned.

"Oppositors to this plan should not worry since we will not implement this without conducting a dialogue with all concerned," Binay assured them.

Binay likewise claimed that it is "baseless" for some of the programs' critics to say that the carless scheme has not been adopted in other countries. The plan has been proven effective in a number of European and Latin American countries.

"I know we will be met by negative reactions, especially from private motorists. Nothing is final yet," he said.