Pink flag scheme kicks off

Erring bus divers will be seeing pink today.

Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) traffic enforcers manning the 24-kilometer stretch of EDSA will start using pink flags to wave off overstaying public utility buses (PUBs) at loading and unloading areas today.

The new scheme will be officially launched at a bus station in Cubao, Quezon City at 9:30 a.m. and will be implemented in 16 other areas, where traffic is often bad during rush hour.

Under the scheme, PUBs will only be allowed to stay at loading and unloading bays for no more than 30 seconds.

If a bus stays beyond the allotted period, MMDA traffic enforcers will start waving the pink flag to inform the driver that he has to go because his vehicle is slowing down traffic.

The waving of the pink flag will also tell passengers to stop boarding a particular bus and take the next one instead.

MMDA Traffic Operations Center (TOC) executive director Angelito Vergel de Dios said the pink flag scheme seeks to instill order and discipline among drivers and waiting commuters at bus stops.

The pink flag scheme, which is expected complements the MMDA’s Organized Bus Route (OBR), warrants the issuance of Traffic Violation Receipts to violators.

Vergel de Dios said those who fail to cooperate and intentionally go against the same can be cited for obstruction.