A total of 585 traffic violators were apprehended by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) as strict enforcement of its “yellow” lane policy along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (Edsa) began on Monday.
Despite the “minimal” number of apprehended violators, MMDA Assistant General Manager for Planning Jojo Garcia said the strict implementation of the policy restricting public-utility buses (PUB) on yellow lanes was a “success.”
Of the number, 37 were bus drivers, while 70 were private-car owners. They were flagged down and were issued traffic violation receipt (TVR) immediately.
Meanwhile, 364 private vehicles and 140 buses were tracked violating the policy under the “No Contact” apprehension of the agency. Their TVRs will be sent to them.
“All these apprehensions were recorded as of 12 noon today [Monday]and we will continue the apprehension 24/7,” Garcia told reporters in an afternoon briefing.
“If you are going to look at the data this is a very minimal number because there are around 50,000 vehicles traversing Edsa per hour. Percentage-wise, [it was] manageable and the drivers were following [the policy] maybe because we [MMDA] have been very active in [announcing it],” he said.
He added that more than 270,000 private vehicles and over 20,000 buses are traversing Edsa daily.
“Those [cars and buses] that we apprehended today is only a small percentage [of vehicles using] Edsa,” he added.
Drivers of private vehicles and taxis, including UV Express vans, that stray into the yellow lane will be apprehended and fined P500.
The MMDA official said the yellow lane has been designated for PUBs, which are classified as “high occupancy vehicles,” or vehicles which have the capacity to accommodate a large number of passengers.
All other vehicles are not allowed inside the lane. Buses violating the policy, on the other hand, will be penalized with P200.
The yellow lane policy was first implemented from 2002 to 2009, during the time of former MMDA chairman and now Marikina Rep. Bayani Fernando.
It seeks to encourage the buses to move faster and help ease traffic on major thoroughfares.
Plastic barriers were installed to serve as separators for bus lanes and private vehicles. The separators provide two lanes for buses and three lanes for private vehicles.
Private vehicles turning right to any intersections can drive inside the bus lanes.