The Metro Manila Development Authority on Monday signed an agreement with the Ateneo de Manila University to launch the school’s Shuttle Service Program that will decongest traffic along Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City.
The program, according to MMDA Chairman Emerson Carlos, was made initially in Ateneo to encourage and teach high school students learn how to commute.
The MMDA identified the streets near ADMU and Miriam College where heavy traffic usually occurs. The agency earlier appealed to school administrators to put in place a shuttle bus system to ease traffic gridlock caused by private and public utility vehicles dropping and picking up students.
“We started here in Ateneo because teenagers and high school students are those who can commute. Actually it is a way of educating them. Many young people, especially those in the upper classes, didn’t know how to commute,” said Carlos.
Carlos said the shuttle service program will be used exclusively by teachers, employees and students of Ateneo. “They will not be allowed to be dropped anywhere, so it’s from point to point from origin to destination.”
Apart from Katipunan, the MMDA said heavy traffic usually occurs also in the vicinity of Poveda College and De La Salle University in Greenhills, San Juan City, and La Salle in Taft Avenue, Manila.
The MMDA suggested to school administrators to implement a 15-second policy for students alighting from or boarding vehicles in front of schools to avoid road congestion.
The agency came up with the program following observation of some motorists that traffic was heavy during morning and late afternoon hours due to the surge of the students in and out of the school.
The motorists noted the halting of public utility vehicles near schools for dropping and picking up students, far away from the regular PUV stops aggravated the traffic situation while the presence of enforcers has not helped in ensuring free flow of traffic.
But the MMDA stated that congestion alone is not only a matter of concern, but also the safety of students, saying erring drivers seem to pay no attention to safety areas such as school zones.