MANILA, Philippines – Starting Monday, January 18, private motorists should avoid using the yellow bus lanes along EDSA or else face apprehension.
Traffic enforcers from the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the Philippine National Police - Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG) will begin imposing a stricter traffic management system along the southbound lane of Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong City to Guadalupe in Makati City, identified as one of the chokepoints along EDSA.
This is in line with a long-standing rule that bans private vehicles from using the yellow bus lane except when they are about to turn into a side road or to enter the main thoroughfare from secondary roads.
Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said private vehicles caught using the yellow bus lanes, unless they are making a turn, will be apprehended.
"If they will not cooperate, we will issue tickets," Almendras said.
Additional MMDA and HPG personnel will be deployed to manage the flow of traffic, while barriers placed along EDSA will serve as delineators for the lanes.
The move is the latest effort to speed up travel along EDSA. In September last year, the government deployed highway police to man chokepoints along the major thoroughfare in a bid to ease worsening congestion in the capital region.– Rappler.com