THE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority yesterday said traffic situation in most thoroughfares in Metro Manila remained “manageable” on the first day of classes for the new school year.
MMDA Traffic Engineering Center Director Neomie Recio said fears that major roads in the metropolis would be choked with vehicles as classes started turned out to be unfounded.
“Manageable naman ang traffic situation at hindi nangyari ‘yung inaasahan natin na volume of vehicles (The traffic situation was manageable, contrary to what we expected regarding the volume of vehicles),” Recio said.
Recio, however, did not give the number of vehicles that plied major roadways in the metropolis, particularly the 23.8-kilometer long Epifanio de los Santos Ave.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency said 405,000 vehicles used Edsa on a daily basis.
Recio said the MMDA-TEC monitored traffic build-up near La Salle and Ateneo but their enforcers managed to untangle the mess in less than half an hour.
The agency deployed over 2,000 traffic enforcers for the school opening, including 581 in roads leading to and near schools.
The agency said 226 motorists were apprehended for violating the expanded Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program or number coding scheme that was fully implemented last August 18 to reduce the number of vehicles in the metropolis.
The agency earlier said the reimplementation of the expanded number coding scheme will reduce traffic volume by as much as 20 percent during morning and evening rush hours.