MMDA urges carpooling

Due to upcoming infrastructure projects, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is calling on motorists to try carpooling to reduce traffic along EDSA and other parts of the metropolis.

The projects include the rehabilitation of the Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge that connects the cities of Makati and Mandaluyong and the construction of the EDSA-Taft flyover that would connect to Macapagal Boulevard, according to Melvin Navarro, regional director for Metro Manila of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

The rehabilitation of the Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge will start in September, Navarro said in a press briefing after the meeting of the MMDA and its policy-making body, the Metro Manila Council (MMC), last Friday.

He said motorists used to passing through the bridge are most likely to use EDSA once the bridge is closed for repairs.

The rehabilitation of the Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge and the Binondo-Intramuros Bridge in Manila are part of the $70-million grant through a bilateral cooperation agreement between the Philippines and China, DPWH Secretary Mark Villar said in July.

More than 100,000 cars pass through the Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge each day, MMDA general manager Jose Arturo Garcia noted.

He encouraged motorists to try carpooling while the agency continues to implement the dry run of the ban on driver-only cars along EDSA.

The MMC last Friday decided to continue the dry run of the high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane scheme along EDSA until issues related to it are resolved with both houses of Congress and with the executive department.

MMC chairman and Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista said the cities of Taguig, Pasig, Makati, Mandaluyong and San Juan would conduct studies to find out if the HOV lane policy is effective in easing traffic along EDSA.