Metro mayors OK number coding for PUVs and private vehicles

The Metro Manila mayors have finally approved the implementation of the Unified Volume Vehicle Reduction Program (UVVRP), also called the number coding scheme, for both private and public utility vehicles, as an answer to the metropolis’ worsening traffic problem.

The scheme would be implemented starting Monday.

The number coding would be implemented from 7 am to 7 pm, from Mondays to Fridays.

Also agreed upon was a "window hour", which lifts the coding for private vehicles from 10 am to 3 pm. This means, private vehicles would be allowed to ply major thoroughfares such as EDSA, C-5 and the South Luzon Tollway (SLT), even if it is a coding day for them, explained Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Bayani Fernando.

However, the "window hour" would not be implemented in the city of Makati and San Juan, he said.

In the UVVRP, vehicles with plate numbers ending in 1 and 2, would not be allowed on the roads on Mondays; 3 and 4 on Tuesdays, and so on.

Aside from city buses, PUVs included in the number coding are jeepneys, FX and taxi cabs.

Exempted from the coding are provincial buses, shuttle buses, school buses and motorcycles. Details for special exemptions still have to be discussed, Fernando said. The decision was arrived at by the mayors during a special Metro Manila Council meeting, called primarily to discuss the UVVRP.

The MMDA conducted various traffic experiments for almost a month to find the best solution for the traffic problem, with the mayors finally agreeing on what scheme to implement depending on the experiment’s results. According to the MMDA, the number coding which included PUVs, most effectively reduce the traffic and travel time in the metropolis.

The PUVs were previously not included in the UVVRP.

Fernando also said that bus operators are discussing the implementation of "controlled routes" where buses would be dispatched "according to need".

"This way, they don’t have to compete for passengers on the streets," he said.

The program would be a "self-regulation" of sorts by the PUV operators, Fernando added. He also said the MMDA is willing to subsidize the extra cost the operators and their associations would incur for the operation of the central dispatch. He said EDSA would be the pilot route.

For his part, Manila Mayor Lito Atienza said that while there is now a scheme to be implemented, there should be a more efficient enforcement from the MMDA’s side to make it effective. – Nikko Dizon