MMDA: Traffic ‘manageable’ as face-to-face classes start

MANILA, Philippines — The first day of the resumption of face-to-face classes caused light to moderate traffic jams in the metropolis yesterday, according to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).

Neomie Recio, chief of the MMDA Traffic Engineering Center, said traffic congestion along major thoroughfares in Metro Manila was “manageable.”

“The expected volume of vehicles was not reached,” Recio said.

The MMDA observed traffic buildup at the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City and De La Salle Greenhills in Mandaluyong.

“Traffic congestion in these areas was managed in less than an hour,” Recio said.

The MMDA said motorists also experienced traffic jams along the southbound lane of Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.

MMDA spokesman Crisanto Saruca Jr. said the vehicular volume was due to a shortage of public utility buses along Commonwealth-Litex yesterday.

Video footage showed commuters spilling along the highway as they waited for rides.

Traffic enforcers of the MMDA apprehended 226 motorists for violating the number coding scheme.

Meanwhile, more than 3,200 students took the free rides on the Light Rail Transit Line 2 in the first four hours of train operations yesterday.

The Metro Rail Transit Line 3 management distributed hygiene kits to students containing face masks, a bottle of alcohol and tissue.