MANILA, PHILIPPINES: The Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) plans to install metal railings on almost the entire stretch of EDSA to separate lanes dedicated to buses from those for private motorists.

MMDA Chairman Bayani F. Fernando told reporters in a press conference yesterday the metal railings would "force" private motorists to stay on their side of highway, as well as instill discipline among bus drivers and pedestrians.

Drivers caught outside their allotted lanes will be fined, he said.

Public buses will be given two lanes, while private vehicles will have three lanes for their use.

The scheme, Mr. Fernando said, is envisioned to ease up the flow of traffic on the busy highway.

"To unclog EDSA ... it is needed to speed up the traffic," Mr. Fernando said in Filipino.

Denying that the new traffic scheme will cause more traffic jams, Mr. Fernando said private motorists would, in fact, benefit from separate lanes.

With passenger buses off EDSA's three lanes, private motorists will be fast-moving and "non-stop."

The northbound and southbound lanes of EDSA, which each measure 27 kilometers, host an average of 107,000 bus trips and 713,000 private car trips daily, MMDA said.

Last week MMDA erected a metal rail along EDSA's southbound lane near Cubao in Quezon City. Another fence is scheduled to divide EDSA lanes near Ortigas Avenue.

Other areas that will see such changes in the near future include the sections of EDSA near Shaw, Kamuning, Aurora Boulevard, and Pinatubo St. in Mandaluyong City.

At present, MMDA has put up metal rails along EDSA in Cubao, Ayala, and the Magallanes interchange.

In another development, MMDA yesterday resurrected the Metropolitan Traffic Ticket (MTT), the Organized Bus Routes (OBR), and the Non-Contact Traffic Apprehension Program (NCTAP).

The temporary restraining order on the traffic schemes granted earlier to transport groups lapsed last February 18.

With MTT's re-introduction, motorists who violate traffic rules will no longer surrender their licenses to MMDA and pay the fine at the agency's headquarters in Guadalupe, Makati City.

Instead, erring motorists can pay the fine at Metrobank branches.

The NCTAP project, meanwhile, entails the monitoring of public and private motorists through cameras and strategically-placed MMDA agents.

Under the OBR, bus terminals will be put at the end points of bus routes, and public buses will be dispatched on a "first come, first served" basis.

Source:
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