The Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) strongly opposes the proposal of bus operators to revert to the old two yellow curbside bus lanes that it said was inefficient and only worsened traffic on EDSA.
The group instead proposed to the Department of Transportation the full completion and upgrade of the busway up to global standards with a bus exchange system for convenient transfer of commuters to feeder lines.
“Reverting to the failed yellow bus lane system will be grossly detrimental to commuters, to bus operators themselves, and to the economy. Opportunity losses from traffic congestion may likely gallop way past the previously estimated P3.5 billion daily,” MAP said in a statement.
The group commended the decision of the Metro Manila Development Authority to reject the proposal to bring back the yellow lanes and to retain the EDSA Busway System which it said is a far superior public bus transport system.
“We earnestly urge the DOTr to stay the course and expedite the completion of this project, preferably, in partnership with a private concessionaire, while adhering to global standards and best practices.This shift will reduce vehicle volume and decongest EDSA,” MAP said.
MAP said the busway was able to carry a one-day peak load of 454,649 passengers on Dec. 27, 2022 using no more than 550 bus units.
Capital expenditures, excluding cost of rolling stock, by the national government totaled only about P500 million, which translates to the lowest capital cost-to-passenger ratio among transit systems.
Average daily busway ridership reached 380,378 during the heavy Christmas season in December 2022. Total ridership reached 154 million from June 2020 up to December 2022.
According to MAP, drivers on the busway are better disciplined and they stop only at bus stations and do not linger there.
