With The MMDA’s New Traffic Measures In Effect, Has Your Travel Time Improved Yet?

If you’re one of the millions of people extremely pissed off by the horrendous traffic in Metro Manila, remember that you’re not alone. Somewhere in the Metro Manila Development Authority’s (MMDA) office in Makati City, the Tim Orbos-led agency is tearing their collective hair out on how to make our roads less congested.

Despite the insufficient number of traffic enforcers, the MMDA is still keen on finding new ways to solve the traffic situation. Here are some of the new measures announced by the agency that, fingers crossed, will hopefully address the all our traffic woes in the long run.

With The MMDA's New Traffic Measures In Effect

No window

Last November, the MMDA implemented a no-window policy for the number-coding scheme on Metro Manila’s major roads, including Edsa. Originally intended for the holiday season, the scheme will be implemented until July 2017.

Orbos says the no-window policy was a resounding success, cutting the travel time along Edsa by 28 minutes despite the heavier volume of vehicles using the busiest highway in Metro Manila.

No sale on weekdays

Three-day sales may be good for buying things you really need on the cheap. But trust that once SM Megamall or Robinsons Galleria announces a sale, traffic of apocalyptic proportions will ensue. To arrive at a win-win situation, the MMDA made a pact with mall owners: no weekday mall-wide sale policies, not only during the holiday season, but all year round.

To curb the traffic, the MMDA advised mall owners and operators to not hold mall-wide sales during weekdays. Also prohibited are crowd-gathering events during weekdays as well as deliveries outside the prescribed time period(11 p.m. until 5 a.m.).

To further ease the traffic around mall areas, the MMDA will train their personnel to know more about traffic management and deputize them to allow the issuance of traffic violation tickets to motorists who err within their premises.

A new hope for the force

The MMDA needs more traffic enforcers to implement laws. According to Orbos, the agency is “in dire need of field personnel to be deployed in all of the major roads in Metro Manila.” Since more than 2,000 field personnel aren’t enough to deal with more than two million vehicles that go through Metro Manila’s roads every day, the MMDA will use the force to augment their numbers.

Seeking the help of outside groups such as manpower agencies and volunteer groups, the MMDA will resort to force multipliers to assist their inadequate numbers.

The agency aims to get 500 additional enforcers, which will be trained by senior traffic officers. Meanwhile, fire volunteers and motorcycle rider organizations have also pledged support to help manage the traffic.

What do you think of these measures? Has traffic improved in your own experience? Share your thoughts in the comments.