METROPOLITAN Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos Jr. said on Monday night that despite the improving traffic in EDSA, there are still no plans to lift the suspension of the number coding scheme in Metro Manila as there are still a limited number of public transportation vehicles plying the region.
Abalos, in his report to President Duterte, said travel time in Edsa, from Monumento to Roxas Boulevard, has gone down to 59 minutes from the two hours and five minutes travel time before the pandemic hit.
He said vehicles travelling on Edsa, which reached a high of 405,000 in July 2019, has decreased to around 398,000 as of October 19,2021.
Abalos said the lower number of vehicles, which he attributed to the opening of some alternative routes, especially for buses and trucks, also resulted in the improved travel speed of 23.34 kilometers per hour (kph) from 11.02 kph.
He said reimposing the number coding could lead to more private cars on the streets.
He said based on the EDSA Annual Average Daily Traffic data, private cars passing EDSA accounts for 59 percent of total vehicles there while taxis accounts for six percent and buses one percent.
