MMDA opens 3 EDSA tunnels to buses

MANILA, Philippines - The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has again allowed provincial buses to pass through three of EDSA’s tunnels until June 6, an official said yesterday.

In a memorandum circular, MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said provincial buses have been allowed to pass through the Shaw Boulevard, P. Tuazon and Aurora Boulevard underpasses (tunnels) starting Feb. 2.

“Necessity still exists for provincial buses to use the EDSA underpasses to alleviate traffic and allow city buses to maximize the road use of city bus stops,” said Tolentino.

The MMDA earlier allowed provincial buses to use the three EDSA tunnels (underpasses) from Oct. 28 last year until last Jan. 4 to address the holiday traffic jams.

Both city and provincial buses are not allowed to pass through EDSA’s tunnels on Sundays. Violators will be fined P500.

According to MMDA records, there are about 3,300 provincial buses and 12,000 city buses pass through EDSA each day.

The provincial buses will be allowed to go through the tunnels based on a number coding scheme.

Buses with license plates ending in odd numbers are allowed in the tunnels on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and the ones with even numbers are allowed on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.