MMDA sees ‘worst-case’ traffic today

MANILA, Philippines — The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) warned the public yesterday to expect traffic jams during this morning’s rush hour as thousands of commuters and motorists hit the road.

Bong Nebrija, MMDA supervising operations officer, said commuters and motorists should leave their homes not later than 8 a.m. or between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. to avoid traffic. 

He said heavy traffic is expected on North Luzon Expressway, South Luzon Expressway, Magallanes Interchange, EDSA, C-5 Road, Commonwealth Avenue and A. Bonifacio in Quezon City. 

“We are expecting a worst-case scenario, but we are hoping for that best. We are hoping that the people listened to our appeal even before to come back early or avoid the influx of motorists,” he said. 

Nebrija reiterated that the MMDA has deployed 2,200 personnel, including all of the agency’s traffic enforcers, to monitor the traffic today.  

To ensure that traffic problem will be addressed, Nebrija said that they visited all the bus terminals on EDSA yesterday morning and conducted clearing operations. Five motorists were issued citation tickets for illegal parking.

He said that they also reminded all bus terminal operators to observe the “nose in, nose out” and the “no loading and unloading” policies on EDSA to avoid causing traffic.