Expanded number coding eyed on EDSA

MANILA, Philippines - The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is studying the modification of the present unified vehicular volume reduction program (UVVRP) or number coding by expanding the traffic scheme to ban vehicles from using EDSA twice a week.

MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino told reporters yesterday that he is pushing for the expansion of the UVVRP on vehicles passing through EDSA from its present coverage of two license plate endings per day to four.

Tolentino said by modifying the number coding scheme on EDSA, the traffic condition on the highway could improve by as much as 40 percent.

According to Tolentino, if approved by the mayors of Metro Manila that comprise the Metro Manila Council (MMC), the policy-making arm of the MMDA, the modified scheme will only be implemented along EDSA.

Under the modified UVVRP, Tolentino said vehicles with license plates ending in 1, 2, 3 and 4 will be banned from using EDSA on Mondays with no permitted window hours.

Vehicles covered by the UVVRP for that day are, however, allowed to use other major Metro roads, including C-5, on the usual window hours of 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Vehicles with license plates ending in 5, 6, 7 ,8 are to be restricted on Tuesday; ending 9, 0, 1, 2 on Wednesday; 3, 4, 5, 6 on Thursday and 7, 8, 9, 0 on Friday.

Under the present UVVRP, vehicles with license plates ending in 1 and 2 are barred from using EDSA and other major metro roads every Monday from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Vehicles with license plates ending in 2 and 3 are barred from EDSA and other major streets every Tuesday; 4 and 5 on Wednesday; 6 and 7 on Thursday; 8 and 9 on Friday.

The UVVRP is not implemented on weekends and during public holidays.

Under the present UVVRP, a “window” period is allowed from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. except in Makati City where the scheme is effective ffrom 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Other cities such as Marikina and Taguig do not implement the UVVRP.

Exempted from the present UVVRP are marked government vehicles, vehicles with diplomatic license plates, emergency vehicles and ambulances, police and military vehicles, properly accredited media vehicles and motorcycles.

Tolentino said it would be up to the MMC to decide whether public utility vehicles (PUVs), such as buses and jeepneys that also use EDSA, would be covered by the modified UVVRP.

Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista told reporters that he is not in favor of including PUVs under the modified UVVRP as it would be a burden on commuters.

According to Tolentino, a similar modified UVVRP scheme proved effective in decongesting vehicle traffic in the streets of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

Tolentino said the present UVVRP scheme only managed to decongest metro streets by 20 percent.

He said that at present, there are almost 3.3 million registered vehicles in Metro Manila, up from 1.9 million in 2010.

Tolentino said 326,504 vehicles pass through EDSA everyday.

Meanwhile, according to the Traffic Engineering Center of the MMDA, if the modified UVVRP is implemented, vehicle speed along EDSA would improve from the present average of 30 kilometers per hour.

The modified UVVRP would also help improve traffic flow along EDSA and the other major metro roads by some 40 percent.

According to the TEC, an average of 264,067 private cars passed daily through EDSA last year.

Four-day work week proposed

Romulo Macalintal, who has practiced election law for years, proposed yesterday a combination of four-day work week and staggered office hours to ease traffic congestion in Metro Manila.

He said he was making the proposal as a Las Piñas City resident answering the government’s “clarion call” for all sectors to help solve the worsening traffic in the metropolis so that precious time, money and fuel could be saved.

He said authorities in Metro Manila, including state agencies, could experiment on a four-day work week by freeing their personnel for one day on a staggered basis.

“For instance, offices in Quezon City and Manila will have no work on Mondays; Pasay City and Caloocan City will have no work on Tuesdays; Mandaluyong City, Muntinglupa City and Las Piñas City on Wednesdays; San Juan City and Makati City on Thursdays, and so on and so forth,” he said. With AureaCalica