C-5 open for provincial buses for 3 hours starting Monday

Provincial buses heading to Southern Tagalog provinces from Cubao and Kamuning in Quezon City will be allowed to use C-5 Road for three hours a day starting Monday, September 7, a report on "Balitanghali" said Friday.

The report said buses headed to Laguna, Batangas, and Quezon from Quezon City can take the C-5 Road from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., a move that is expected to rid EDSA of 135 bus units during the morning rush.

A lane will be designated for provincial buses using the five-laned C-5 in addition to the existing lane for trucks heading to the South Luzon Expressway from the North Luzon Expressway.

Provincial Bus Operators Association of the Philippines President Alex Yague said the new route must be tested before motorists start complaining.

"Subukan ho natin muna bago tayo magreklamo. Gusto ho naming makatulong sa traffic," he said.

Secretary to the Cabinet Jose Rene Almendras appealed to bus drivers to stay in their designated lanes. "Patunayan po natin na kaya naman nating stick to the two lanes, or kung nasa C-5 tayo, dito lang tayo sa lane na 'to," he said.

While bus operators welcomed the move, bus drivers and regular motorists on C-5 are worried the scheme would worsen the traffic situation on C-5.

Jay Awitan, a bus driver, said they would be inconvenienced by their lack of familiarity with C-5, while private motorists are worried that delivery and cargo trucks affected by President Benigno Aquino III's directive to clear EDSA's six chokepoints may join the buses in using C-5 as an alternative route. —Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News