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MMDA opposes move to suspend number coding scheme for PUBs


The Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is against the proposal to suspend the number coding scheme for public utility buses (PUBs).
 
On Monday, MMDA General Manager Corazon Jimenez told lawmakers at a House hearing that lifting the number coding scheme, even temporarily, will worsen the traffic congestion on EDSA, especially amid the various road repair works being conducted by the Department of Public Works and Highways.
 
“We are strongly in opposition to the proposed suspension of bus coding scheme. There is already an oversupply of PUBs on EDSA. Wala namang laman ‘yung mga bus,” Jimenez said.
 
Citing data from a joint study conducted by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in 2006, the MMDA said there was already an oversupply of some 5,000 buses on EDSA.

These excess buses, the agency said, are seldom filled except during peak hours in the morning and evening.
 
In addition, the MMDA said there is an estimated 1,500 “colorum” buses or buses without franchises plying along EDSA. These buses, it said, worsen the traffic along the highway, in which an estimated 225,000 vehicles pass through everyday.
 
Panel chair Rep. Winston Castelo said he had received suggestions from bus operators to suspend the number coding scheme for PUBs so they can better assist disenfranchised commuters affected by the frequent glitches experienced by the Metro Rail Transit.
 
Earlier in the day, MRT General Manager Roman Buenafe said only seven MRT trains were in service as some trains were removed because of a faulty air-conditioning system. 
 
Jimenez, however, said the MMDA is already responding to the MRT commuters’ plight by offering them a free bus ride through its “Libreng Sakay” program. — Xianne Arcangel/RSJ, GMA News
 
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