Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — For the first time in 30 years, Roger Tuazon now enjoys the space of his own parking garage without having to worry about cars blocking his gate along Mayon Street in Quezon City.
This is the situation now, after a series of clearing operations along the Mabuhay Lanes starting last November.
For years, he has chosen not to confront the owners of vehicles illegally parked in front of his house for fear of harassment.
“Ay masayang masaya kami sa ginagawa nilang yan. Ilang taon na kami rito ngayon lang na-clear itong harap ng bahay namin. Palaging may nagpa-park dyan sa harap. Pag sinita mo, ikaw pa ang pagbabantaan,” Tuazon said.
[Translation: “We are very happy with the clearing. We have been living here for years, but it is only now that the front of our house got cleared. There are always cars parked there. When you call their attention, they threaten you.”]
Mabuhay Lanes as alternate routes
Mabuhay Lanes are inner streets used by private vehicles as alternate routes. Clearing these streets for the passage of vehicles is a way of easing traffic in EDSA and other major roads.
Look: Mabuhay lane routes from north to south
If drivers insist on parking along the Mabuhay Lanes, their vehicles will be towed away by authorities.
“Yung iba paulit-ulit, mas pinipili nila bayaran yung illegal parking ticket kaysa magbayad ng parking fee. Hindi pwede yan. Kaya yan hihilahin namin,” Ed Lara, head of Task Force Mabuhay Lanes, said.
[Translation: “Others keep on coming back to park. They would rather pay for an illegal parking ticket than to pay for parking fee. That’s unacceptable. That’s why we wull tow their vehicles.”]
On Thursday morning (January 14) alone, the task force towed a total of 10 illegally parked vehicles along the streets of Mayon, Del Monte, and Banawe in Quezon City.
Less illegal parking
According to authorities, there’s a significant improvement since they started in November 2015.
When operations kicked off in November last year, the task force towed about 80 vehicles every half day on the average. Traffic enforcers issued roughly about just as many tickets especially during the Christmas season.
But starting this month, records showed the number of parking tickets issued went down by about 50 percent. The average number of illegally parked vehicles that were towed also went down to 20 to 40 every half day.
Traffic enforcer Edgardo De Dios said that some vehicle owners might have stopped parking illegally due to the towing.
Each ticket issued for illegal parking costs P200. As for the cost of towing services, it starts at P1,500 for the first four kilometers, with an added P200 per succeeding kilometer.
Authorities said the Mabuhay Lanes were initially intended to address heavy traffic during Christmas time.
But since these lanes effectively encouraged more drivers to take the alternate routes away from the main roads, Cabinet Secretary Rene Almendras has extended the clearing operations of Mabuhay Lanes.
Operations continue in Quezon City, Manila, Mandaluyong, and Makati until June this year.
Task Force Mabuhay Lanes is doing three rounds of clearing operations per day.
