Abalos warns bus operators to help solve traffic problems or else...

Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. threatened to revoke the exemption of public utility buses (PUBs) from the color-coding scheme unless their owners do something to address the traffic problem on major thoroughfares.

Abalos said that two of the major reasons for the worsening traffic situation in Metro Manila are the huge volume of vehicles and undisciplined PUB drivers.

He observed that the number of PUBs on the road has steadily increased since last year and not all of the additions were colorum buses.

"There are too many buses on the road and they’re not running full of passengers even during the peak hours," Abalos said.

The saturation of buses has created a scenario where the competition for passengers has drastically affected the overall flow of traffic, particularly along EDSA.

"They (bus drivers) have transformed EDSA into their terminals," Abalos said.

Abalos pointed out that his decision to exempt the buses from the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program or the color-coding scheme early last year was based on the assumption that there was an "acute need for more buses" for the commuting public.

However, Abalos noted that the bus operators abused this privilege, which has resulted in the saturation of PUBs.

He said that he would provide the bus operators two options before making good his threat.

One of the options is for the bus operators to voluntarily pull out some of their vehicles from the major thoroughfares.

The other option would be for the bus owners associations to agree among themselves to implement a schedule wherein only a given number of bus firms would operate on a given day of the week.

Abalos explained that maybe only one or two bus lines should be operating on an agreed day on a particular route.

He said that he would not hesitate to revive the color-coding scheme on PUBs if the bus owners fail to come up with a compromise.

A meeting between Abalos and the bus operators is set for sometime this week to discuss the issue.