Lawmaker lauds EDSA number scheme for passenger buses

The vice chairman of the Senate committee on public services on Sunday praised the new number-coding scheme for passenger buses, saying that this would significantly reduce the number of buses plying Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (EDSA), decongest that main thoroughfare, and free some $2 billion in income lost to traffic. "Any plan aimed to decongest EDSA should be anchored on reducing the number of public utility buses (PUBs) plying the main thoroughfare," Sen. Ralph G. Recto said in a statement. Some $2 billion in possible income from economic activities that depend on traversing EDSA is lost everyday because of traffic, he said. The number coding scheme for PUBs operating in the city was approved by Metro Manila mayors on Oct. 15 and will be implemented on an experimental basis beginning on Nov. 15. Under the number coding scheme, passenger buses with license plates that end in a particular number are barred from using Metro Manila’s main streets on particular days. Recto also said that he supports the implementation of a scheme for buses, and not private vehicles. "A traffic reduction plan clamping down on the use of private vehicles would not solve the problem. There should be a laser-powered approach to cut through the volume of buses traversing EDSA to attain satisfactory results," he said. Recto cited World Bank (WB) figures that say that the ideal volume of buses along EDSA is only 1,600, but that around 7,000 PUBs, including “colorum" buses, were actually plying the major thoroughfare. Recto, who also co-chairs the joint oversight committee on the official development assistance (ODA) and heads the committees on ways and means, said that the challenge for government agencies such as the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is to at least halve the current number of buses using EDSA. "We cut down by half the current volume of buses, we cut down traffic — and even pollution along EDSA," he said. On the day they gave the thumbs up for the PUB number coding scheme, the mayors had junked a proposal of the MMDA to re-implement the odd-even scheme for private vehicles along EDSA. Increased MRT use According to Recto, one positive effect of the number scheme’s implementation would be an increase in the ridership of Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3, which is suffering from weak revenues and heavily dependent on state subsidies. The MRT-3 was projected to transport around 600,000 riders daily but only about 414,000 to 500,000 are serviced daily, Recto claimed. "With fewer buses, we could be moving people from buses to climb up the stairs and take the much safer MRT-3 and, in the process, increase its viability," he said. Recto said driving commuters to the MRT-3 would also mean “more value for every peso subsidy" that government now pours into MRT system as fare subsidy and for maintenance. "EDSA-bound commuters should better put to good use the P7.3-billion subsidy allotted for MRT-3 next year by patronizing the MRT service," he said. More passengers would revitalize the MRT-3, and this would “ultimately enable it to expand its fleet of coaches or trains" and “wean away from costly subsidy in the long-term." In September, MRT-3 fares were set to increase by more than 200 percent, from P15 to P44 per passenger, but the planned hike was delayed after commuters led by militant groups threatened to stage protest actions. MRT fares are currently being subsidized by the government at a cost of P45 per passenger. Without the subsidy, the MRT fare would then be at P60 person. Militant groups had noted that part of the government’s mandate was to provide social services for Filipinos. They also pointed out that the steep increases would pose a heavy burden to minimum wage earners, who will be forced to spend a fourth of their pay on transportation alone. The MRT-3 has thirteen stations along its 16.95 km track, which traverses the cities of Makati, Mandaluyong, Pasay, Quezon City, and San Juan. Opened in 1999, it is operated by a private firm, the Metro Rail Transit Corporation (MRTC), operating in partnership with the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) under a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) agreement. Daily operations of MRT-3 the have been criticized widely as being spotty and inadequate, with commuter trains are jam-packed during rush hours. In the past month alone, trains were stalled by power failures, caused long rush-hour queues in some stations. - DM, GMANews.TV