Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 28) — Authorities may impose fines starting next week on jeepney drivers who do not follow the rules against picking up and dropping off passengers along EDSA, an official warned Wednesday.
Bong Nebrija, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority traffic operations chief, said they noticed that some drivers with routes from Project 8, Quezon City to Arroceros, Manila started to unload and pick up commuters along the major thoroughfare after the MMDA closed on Monday the U-turn slot near the Panorama building in Quezon City, which drivers use to cross EDSA.
Nebrija added the drivers now take a longer alternate route to get to their destination.
“There are no jeepney stops on EDSA, and we are seeing indiscriminate loading and unloading of jeepney drivers. And besides, there’s a policy that there should be no jeepneys on EDSA,” Nebrija told CNN Philippines’ New Day.
He said they would not impose fines until next week to allow officials of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board to address the problem by either cutting the drivers’ route or giving them a new route. He also expressed regret over the “inconvenience’ that the closure of the U-turn slot might have caused drivers.
“We’re giving them until maybe next week. If we will still see jeepneys on EDSA, we will start ticketing, and that will come in with hefty fines. These are not just traffic violations, these are administrative violations,” Nebrija warned.
“We do not want to inconvenience these drivers anymore so we asked LTFRB if we can just re-route, if not, then we just cut their lines up to EDSA,” he said.
