Starting Monday (January 18), the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) enforcers will stop private motorists who use the yellow lanes.
Private motorists and bus drivers caught driving outside their designated lanes will be issued tickets and fined P500 for each violation.
But a transport expert said exclusive bus lanes will not help speed up traffic flow in Metro Manila.
“The strictest implementation was during the time of (former MMDA chairman) Bayani Fernando and they started relaxing and nobody executed it,” said Rene Santiago, transport and management consultant and engineer.
Santiago pointed out that this measure was done before and it had limited success.
He added that stricter implementation of yellow lanes might even cause private vehicles to slow down along EDSA.
Santiago warned battle necks may happen in areas where private vehicles enter EDSA from secondary roads.
“The traffic will be constrained especially when these cars are coming out from side streets going into EDSA, they can’t immediately merge into the private lane,” Santiago said.
Santiago said traffic along EDSA will only improve if more people leave their private vehicles at home and take the bus instead.
But buses must also swiftly load and unload passengers to avoid causing traffic along their own lanes.
MMDA Chairman Emerson Carlos said the flow of traffic will not speed up right away even with the stricter implementation of the yellow lanes.
“It’s possible na magkaroon ng heavy traffic on Monday so please exercise patience,” said MMDA chariman Emerson Carlos. “It will be met with some confusion, resistance.”
But eventually, Carlos is expecting this system to work once private motorists see the travel time of buses is shorter.
“Kapag nakita nila na mas mabilis ang bus, iiwan nila kotse nila, sasakay ng bus. Pag sumakay sila ng bus, mababawasan ang kotse sa other lanes,” Carlos said.
Carlos said both the MMDA and HPG are there to speed up the flow of buses on EDSA.
It’s their job to make sure buses load and unload passengers quickly, and move along.
Bus drivers who don’t use the designated loading and unloading zones will be reprimanded.
HPG and MMDA personnel will also check on commuters to make sure they use proper loading and unloading areas.
The MMDA clarified that vehicles coming from or going to secondary roads and establishments along EDSA will not be apprehended.
The MMDA and the HPG will be deployed as early as 5 a.m. on Monday.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Traffic officials warned private vehicle owners to keep off the yellow lanes reserved for buses along the stretch of EDSA-Shaw Boulevard to Guadalupe.
