Starting March 16, the City of Makati shall be fully reimposing its number coding policy in which a vehicle is banned off the road once a week based on the license plate’s last number. The notification was made last Tuesday through the city government’s verified social media pages, ahead of the decision made by the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA).
Despite the suspension of the policy in the rest of Metro Manila while mobility restrictions were in effect owing to the coronavirus epidemic, the central and business hub has retained a modified coding scheme throughout the last two years wherein vehicles with two or more occupants were allowed to traverse the city.
As the metro returned to its most lenient lockdown level last March 1, the MMDA said earlier this week that it is evaluating when to completely reimplement the coding scheme throughout the region.
The coding scheme, which was reimposed Dec. 1 last year but only from 5 to 8 p.m., was designed to reduce traffic congestion by decreasing the number of private vehicles allowed on roads.
Once the full coding scheme takes effect, a 7AM to 8PM prohibition on specified automobiles shall be imposed during weekdays, with occasional exceptions made by municipal governments during specific hours.