MMDA urged to implement electronic ID system on buses

MANILA, Philippines - The government was urged yesterday to implement an electronic identification system similar to the shelved radio frequency identification (RFID) system to curb the proliferation of illegal buses on EDSA and other major roads.

Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco and former lawmaker Vigor Mendoza said the RFID system is an effective and cost-effective way to identify out-of-line buses plying EDSA.

“I urge the Department of Transportation and Communications and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority to look into the technologies used in other countries to effectively identify which buses may legally ply along EDSA and other major thoroughfares in the metropolis,” he said. 

“Maybe technology can be the immediate solution to this problem,” he added.

The system can be patterned after traffic control systems in developed countries like Singapore’s Electronic Road Pricing system or ERP which utilizes RFID technology, Tiangco said.

Mendoza said an Electronic Traffic Control and Dispatch System using the RFID could control the flow of public vehicles along EDSA, as well as identify illegal and out-of-line vehicles.

Easily, this can reduce hundreds of illegally operating buses throughout the metropolis, which will greatly ease traffic, he added.

Mendoza said an Electronic Traffic Control and Dispatch System will ensure that only the right number of buses is on the road to accommodate public demand.

One of the major causes of heavy traffic on major roads, especially along EDSA, is the glut of public transport vehicles, he added.

Mendoza said the system will electronically control the allowable number of buses on roads to meet the actual number of commuters at a specific time during the day.

“We need to use technology to address our most basic problems, such as traffic,” he said. “We can no longer rely on the old traffic enforcement and monitoring schemes which rely on human discretion and intervention alone.”

“There are many technologies being used abroad to address these problems. We do not need to reinvent the wheel.”