The number-coding scheme is still suspended as public utility vehicles will not be able to manage more passengers while keeping the 50-percent passenger capacity rule, the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said on July 15.
MMDA Chairman Benhur Abalos said reimplementing the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program would make private car owners queue with ordinary commuters in using public transport and could cause super-spreader events.
“Itong mga bagay na ito, kasama na rin ang mga pinag-aaralang data na talagang manageable pa naman ang traffic, kung kaya’t minabuti po ng MMDA na sa ngayon, after weighing all factors, na wag munang mag-implement ng number coding,” Abalos said in a televised briefing.
(These things along with data showing that traffic is still manageable made the MMDA, after weighing all factors, decide not to reimpose the number-coding scheme.)
Reimposing the number coding would let motorists carpool, disrupting their “personal bubbles” and be a factor for a rising number of Covid-19 infections, Abalos warned.
The MMDA said traffic was still “manageable” because of measures such as the EDSA bus carousel, opening of intersections, newly constructed bridges and roads by the Department of Public Works and Highways, and “mabuhay” lanes or alternative routes for motorists.
The call for the reimposition of the scheme came after the start of the toll collection at the Skyway Stage 3 expressway, which resulted in heavy traffic near toll booths and on EDSA. Jelo Ritzhie Mantaring and Dominic Apolona