This news isn’t a surprise to many, and I’m sure it’s received with mixed opinions: the MMDA has chosen to extend its no-window number coding scheme which was originally implemented during the 2016 Christmas season.
According to MMDA officer in charge and general manager Tim Orbos, the Metro Manila Council has agreed to extend the policy, seeing its effectiveness in improving traffic flow, particularly on Edsa. In December, the agency’s traffic survey showed that travel time from Roxas Boulevard to Monumento and vice versa was reduced by almost 30 minutes.
Though this action is supposed to be in good faith, it’s also funny in a not-so-humurous way. It’s a common and unintelligent solution to problems: solve the problem by throwing away the root cause, instead of solving it. Thirty minutes saved traveling between Roxas Boulevard and Monumento? Well they should simply ban all motorized vehicles on that route—I bet a good cyclist can do that route in just 30 minutes.
Note to the MMDA and other related agencies: We need better solutions. Though private car owners are more than happy to do their part, please solve all the basic things that cause congestions on our roads. That should come first.