MMDA body mulls phaseout of buses older than 10 years

The Metro Manila Council, the policy-making body of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), is mulling over a proposal to disallow operators from renewing the registration and franchise of buses older than 10 years. Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista, the head of the special public transportation committee of the MMC said they are studying the proposal to lower from 15 years to 10 years the maximum age of buses that can ply within Metro Manila roads. The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) earlier set at 15 years the maximum age of buses plying in Metro Manila. Beyond 15 years, buses would have to be replaced with new ones. Under the proposal of the public transportation committee, 10-year-old buses will not be allowed to renew its registration and the operator must replace it with a brand new eco-friendly bus unit. “This will be the new condition for bus operators before they are allowed to transfer their franchise into a new unit but this is being pushed primarily to promote environment friendly metropolis and not to get rid of buses," Bautista said in an interview. He said they will present the proposal to all concerned government agencies such as the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC); Department of Energy (DoE) and the LTFRB. He added that all stakeholders, particularly the bus company owners, will also be consulted. Colorum buses Meanwhile, transport officials, lawmakers, and public utility vehicle organizations will be meeting this week to discuss solutions to the problems of worsening traffic and colorum buses. The public hearing was called by House Committee on Metro Manila Development Chaired by Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco of Navotas to come up with ways to address the problem of colorum vehicles. Earlier, Tiangco raised the need to use technology such as the electronic tracking system to ease traffic in Metro Manila. The system will monitor bus movements and passenger volume. It can act as an electronic dispatching system that match the supply of buses with the number of passengers at a particular time during the day. “We can no longer simply rely on human enforcement of our traffic and transport rules and regulations. If the technology is already there, we should use it as soon as possible," Tiangco added. At present, EDSA, the metropolis’ main thoroughfare, can accommodate only 1,600 buses and yet around 3,600 buses are said to be plying this road daily. – VVP, GMANews.TV