A strictly enforced terminal scheme for provincial and metro buses may help decongest Epifanio delos Santos Avenue and other major thoroughfares in Metro Manila, former Senator Panfilo M. Lacson said.
Lacson said that while the Philippine National Police’s Highway Patrol Group had been managing traffic along Edsa, their effectiveness is limited because of the sheer volume of vehicles on the road.
He said the Road Measured Capacity at Edsa has become too small for the number of vehicles using it.
During a budget hearing he attended in the Senate, Lacson asked the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board representative about the Road Measured Capacity in terms of buses along Edsa.
The LTFRB representative said that while Edsa can accommodate 3,500 buses, the agency had already granted more than 6,000 franchises—about double Edsa’s capacity.
But Lacson also said the LTFRB representative also said there are also about 6,000 illegal buses, bringing the number of buses using Edsa to about 13,000.
“They can no longer be accommodated due to the many buses,” said Lacson.
“So enforcement remains a must. Of course control is still necessary,” he said.
Lacson has been batting for a more equitable distribution of resources in the budget to decongest Metro Manila.