‘Bring back coding’

Passenger bus owners asked the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) yesterday to re-implement the Unified Vehicular Volume Reducation Program (UVVRP) or the color-coding scheme, because of the traffic congestion that has resulted from its temporary suspension.

Eleonor Santos, president of the North East Manila Bus Operators Group Inc., explained that since the MMDA lifted the color-coding scheme last Monday, the number of trips their bus have been making in a day has significantly been reduced.

"When the color-coding was still in effect, our buses could make three to four trips from Baclaran to Sapang Palay in Bulacan. But now, they can only make two trips because of the heavy traffic," she said.

The MMDA temporarily lifted the color-coding scheme to determine if there was still a need for a car ban. Passenger buses are exempted from the program.

The scheme was first implemented in 1996 to minimize traffic jam in the wake of a boom in the construction of Metro Rail Transit, Light Rail Transit and flyover structures in Metro Manila.

Santos added that for each trip a bus owner loses, some P3,000 in income is also forfeited.

"This amount is way too much considering that we also have to bear with the rising cost of fuel, spare parts and road taxes. Color-coding should be enforced again," she told The STAR.

Santos said that if the government wants to ease traffic, it should regulate the operations of private vehicles that dominate the road. Studies estimate that for every 10 vehicles, eight are privately owned.

"Each private car usually carry only two or three people. Buses, on the other hand, serve around 50 passengers. To minimize traffic congestion, the color-coding program should be implemented on private vehicles," she added.

The MMDA earlier said it was considering the introduction of an odd-even scheme for buses, saying the increase in the number of buses on the road has been left unchecked and has affected the traffic situation.

Mayors’ league favors lifting of UVVRP

The Metro Manila Mayors’ League, on the other hand, has expressed support for the lifting of the UVVRP.

League president and Manila City Mayor Lito Atienza said he has been against the UVVRP from the very start. He argued that the scheme penalizes a significant number of people, specifically one-car families.

Atienza explained that people with more money could circumvent the UVVRP by purchasing additional vehicles, thus negating the objective of the scheme.

The mayor pointed out that traffic problems can be attributed to poor enforcement as undisciplined drivers continues to have their way on the road.

"From the very start, it has been an enforcement problem. What we need is discipline among the motorists," Atienza said.

He stressed that police and other law enforcement personnel should be given strict orders to go after violators of traffic rules and regulations.

Meanwhile, pro-administration Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr. threw his support behind the move of MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando to suspend the UVVRP for three weeks to test the traffic situation in the metropolis.

Magsaysay said Fernando’s critics should give the MMDA ample time to determine the results of the experiment.

"Chairman Fernando should be given the chance to assess the traffic situation in Metro Manila in the light of the suspension of the UVVRP in finding the appropriate solutions to alleviate the traffic problem," he said. "Why must we continue to deprive ordinary families possessing only one vehicle of the right to use the road on a specific day of the week if the so-called UVVRP scheme would have proven to hardly have an effect on the traffic situation?" – With Marvin Sy, Sammy Santos