HOV lane scheme to encourage ride sharing mindset —MMDA exec

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority’s newest innovation at reducing traffic volume on EDSA is meant instill the value of sharing among vehicle owners, said an MMDA official on Thursday.

In an interview on "Unang Balita," MMDA Spokesperson Celine Pialago said that the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Lane plan, which will start its one-week dry run on Monday, is not the same as a carpooling scheme, a previous plan of the MMDA to help alleviate often slow-moving EDSA traffic.

“Gusto lang natin iparating sa motorista na kung kayo ho ay mag-asawa, dalawa yung sasakyan ninyo, contributory factor po kayo sa pagbigat ng daloy ng mga sasakyan sa EDSA,” said Pialago, referring to the more than 350,000 vehicles that ply on the busy thoroughfare everyday.

“Dagdag din ho kayo sa volume. Why don’t you just share one car? ‘Yun lang ho ‘yung gusto natin na mindset na ibigay ho doon sa mga motorista natin,” she added.

The MMDA on Wednesday announced that for a week starting December 11, 6 a.m., only vehicles with two or more passengers or motorcycle riders can pass on the  leftmost lanes of EDSA.

Drivers-only vehicles are barred from the HOV lane, but can ply the motorcycle and the third lane from the Metro Rail Transit tracks.

Violators will be apprehended through a no-contact apprehension policy and will be fined P500.

Pialago admitted that the effectiveness of the HOV lane can only be determined at the end of the dry run—to be monitored by the MMDA’s 375 “high-definition” CCTV cameras—which will be followed by a vehicular count to see if the special lane made a discernible change in traffic volume.

“After this implementation, magsasagawa ulit tayo ng vehicular count, titingnan natin kung ganun pa rin ba yung volume, may mga nag-participate ba, then after that we can assess kung successful or not,” she said.

The CCTV cameras to be used for monitoring the HOV lane’s dry run will check the number of occupants in each car. This procedure will be helped by daylight and will be more challenging at night time, said Pialago, who claimed they can monitor car occupancy despite such a challenge. —Nicole-Anne C. Lagrimas/LBG, GMA News