MMDA defends EDSA bus scheme

A ranking Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) official said yesterday that those opposed to the agency’s organized EDSA bus route, are mostly illegal bus operators.

"The legitimate bus operators are cooperative. Ang illegal operators ang maingay at madaldal," said MMDA Traffic Operations Center Executive Director Angelito Vergel de Dios.

Vergel de Dios said this was because the new traffic scheme, which resumed yesterday, prevents colorum bus operators from plying EDSA.

Still, he admitted that there was confusion on the second day of the new scheme.

He added that there would be a re-assessment of "what happened."

"Recommendations would be made on how to improve the scheme. Our main purpose is to let public utility vehicles — the drivers, conductors, and operators — earn more," Vergel de Dios said.

For her part, Elena Ong of the Inter-City Bus Operators Association agreed with Vergel de Dios because legitimate buses are identified by MMDA stickers and queue cards.

Ong added that bus operators will know in seven to 10 days whether the single dispatching system works.

Ong said her group supports the experiment on the single dispatching system. But if the scheme appears to be to the detriment of the bus operators, drivers, and passengers, the MMDA should change the scheme.

She emphasized the need for a re-orientation of the drivers and operators on the scheme because they were given very little time by the MMDA to familiarize themselves with the system.

Ong said drivers encountered difficulty in the timing of the dispatches and where they would fall in line on EDSA, which resulted to passengers complaining that the buses were often late. – Nikko Dizon