MMDA: Expect heavier traffic this month

MANILA, Philippines — Motorists should expect heavier volume of vehicles traveling around Metro Manila this month, which the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) promised to manage.

December is historically seen as the time people, especially those living overseas, would spend the Christmas season in the Philippines, which could cause heavier vehicular traffic, according to MMDA’s Special Operations Group Strike Force chief Gabriel Go.

Gabriel noted that people would also spend their time shopping at malls and other commercial centers in the metropolis, either as Christmas gifts or items that they could sell.

The MMDA had previously declared that it expects an average of around 500,000 vehicles traversing EDSA each day as Christmas Day nears, higher than the daily average of 421,000 cars recorded last September.

To ensure that motorists will not suffer heavier traffic during the Christmas rush, Go said the MMDA has ordered that the deployment of traffic enforcers in highways in Metro Manila last until midnight.

The agency will complement the implementation of the adjusted operating hours of shopping malls, with the opening moved to 11 a.m. and the closing scheduled as late as midnight, when enforcers will help manage vehicular traffic and assist drivers.

The MMDA will also continue its efforts to clear major thoroughfares in Metro Manila of illegally parked vehicles and other obstructions like ambulant stalls.

Go said the agency would also reach out to local government units in Metro Manila especially barangays, to help implement various traffic rules.

He also appealed to motorists to become “more considerate” and avoid committing traffic rules such as illegal parking.