Odd-even scheme, 5-hour truck and bus bans on EDSA proposed
Portions of the Skyway Stage 3 will be toll free during the scheduled rehabilitation of EDSA in June, to ease the burden for travelers, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said.
The DOTr has been working closely with the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) to identify viable measures to mitigate the projected revenue loss to San Miguel Corp. (SMC) due to the planned toll holiday in select segments of Skyway Stage 3, the DOTr said in a statement on Monday, May 26.
“We understand that this temporary arrangement might result in loss of income to SMC, the operator of Skyway. In response, the DOTr and TRB are exploring options to grant SMC some reprieve, including possible extension of their concession agreement with the government,” it said.
“The DOTr looks forward to this bayanihan opportunity with the private sector, to somehow ease the burden of motorists and passengers while we are continually making EDSA better, safer and more convenient for everyone,” the agency added.
Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon, who held a press briefing, on Monday, said the department will keep the busway open for the duration of the EDSA’s P7.3-billion rehabilitation.
Preparatory works for the undertaking will start on June 13, 2025, and the actual construction works will start a week after, said Public Works and Highways Secretary Manuel Bonoan. Dizon did not say when exactly the toll-free policy would start in parts of the Skyway Stage 3, pending the consultations with the TRB and the SMC.
Dizon said the agency would like to add 100 buses to the existing buses plying the EDSA carousel route to address the projected swell of people that will use the busway due to the rehabilitation, on top of the 200,000 daily riders that use the EDSA busway.
Bonoan said the 200 lane-kilometer rehabilitation of EDSA, which will begin in the inner lane, has been targeted for completion by 2027.
Dizon also said the DOTr has started looking into the possibility of increasing to four the number of trains running at the Metro Railway Transit 3 (MRT-3) per trip, from the current three, to accommodate more passengers.
Dizon said the DOTr has decided to remove the x-ray machines in the MRT stations to speed up the queue of passengers, and it has started a dry-run on this in the Taft Avenue and North EDSA stations.
Romando Artes, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman, meanwhile said a round the clock odd-even scheme has been proposed for EDSA, with vehicles with plate numbers ending in 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 barred from plying the road during Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
Plate numbers ending in 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 meanwhile are proposed to be prohibited along EDSA on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. On Sundays, EDSA will be free for all cars.
Artes said the initiative would reduce EDSA traffic by 40 percent from the current daily volume of 437,000 vehicles on EDSA.
Artes at the same time said a ban on provincial buses, trucks and other big vehicles along EDSA between 5AM to 10PMdaily, has also been proposed.
Dizon and Artes did not give specific dates on when all of these traffic-reduction measures during the EDSA rehabilitation would take effect as the DOTr would still have to consult major stakeholders on the schemes.
The EDSA rehabilitation is estimated to run for 17 months, with work done on a 24-hour basis.
