The Metro Manila Council (MMC), a policy-making body of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), has approved on Friday a resolution that will remove provincial bus terminals along EDSA. Furthermore, this will also result on the eventual banning of provincial buses along this major highway.
According to a news post on Manila Bulletin, Metro Manila mayors have agreed on this to improve the worsening traffic situation on EDSA and also in the National Capital Region (NCR).
MMDA Chairman Emerson Carlos said, “They approved the removal of bus terminals on EDSA. It is now up to them [mayors] to prepare for their eventual removal from Pasay and Quezon City.”
Moreover, Carlos mentioned that Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista and Pasay City Mayor Antonio Calixto, whose jurisdiction have the most numbers of bus terminals, were the first one who signed the resolution entitled “Rationalizing the Operations of Provincial Buses and its Terminals Along EDSA.”
He added, “Although it will not be implemented immediately, we told them to prepare, pending the request for the emergency powers [to be given to President Rodrigo Duterte] since the permits are issued by the mayors.”
This move is expected to ease traffic along EDSA, with some 3,300 provincial buses and 12,000 city buses travel along it on a daily basis.
It is expected to affect provincial bus companies in Metro Manila. Out of the 85 companies, 46 have terminals on EDSA, mostly in Cubao, Balintawak, and Pasay City.
What do you think of this move? Will it or won’t it work? Why?
