MMDA to impose new bus route system

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) announced yesterday that starting this November, it will implement an enhanced and fully automated Organized Bus Route System (OBR).

The OBR aims to ensure strict regulation of buses dispatched at terminals according to passenger demand and enforcement of traffic rules on buses in Metro Manila.

MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando said P15 million in government funds and World Bank subsidized facilities have been allocated to defray the costs of surveillance cameras, computers and other gadgets and equipment to be procured and installed at four bus terminals, control stations and bus stops to ensure a controlled and unified dispatch of some 3,000 buses plying 25 routes in northern and southern Metro Manila.

“To effectively implement an enhanced OBR system, the appropriate information and communications technology and radio frequency identification technology (RFID) will be employed in tracking each one of the buses plying Edsa and other major thoroughfares,” Fernando said.

He added that there will be “lesser reliance on human intervention as the MMDA will be able to exercise more effective controls over the buses and drivers, and will be easier to identify violators in lesser time compared with the present set-up.”

Under a fully automated OBR system, current manual components such as bar-coded cards and cue cards will be replaced by RFID tags that will identify legitimate buses from those illegally plying other routes, and indicate whether these buses pass through designated terminals or checkpoints based on the appropriate timetable. Other buses that engage in trip-cutting and other malpractices can be detected once they reach other control stations because of the on-line alarm system.

The system is also interlinked with the traffic operations center database office where traffic violations are recorded and placed on the alarm list.

The OBR system was implemented in 2003 so that only an appropriate number of buses are fielded per route to prevent congestion along major routes and long queues at bus stops.

At least four designated bus terminals and control stations have been established for the sequential dispatch of buses on demand and on a “first in-first out” basis. The terminals are located in Navotas, Baclaran in Pasay City, Alabang and Fairview-Robinson in Quezon City.  – Rhodina Villanueva