By Jel Santos
Provincial bus drivers, who will dare to traverse the stretch of EDSA from Pasay City to Cubao, Quezon City Wednesday, August 15, will be slapped with 2, 000 fine.
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(MANILA BULLETIN)
This was the warning of Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to bus drivers on Tuesday.
The provincial bus ban will be imposed from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m., from Monday to Friday.
Bong Nebrija, MMDA task force special operations commander, said they are optimistic that the provincial bus ban along EDSA will diminish congestion
“We are expecting to reduce traffic tomorrow, August 15. Ang mababawas na provincial buses almost 2,000 around 25 percent bus population (We are expecting to reduce traffic on August 15. The provincial buses that will be reduced is almost 2, 000, which is around 25 percent of bus population),” he said yesterday.
To recall, the implementation of the provincial bus ban had been moved for several times because of the Valenzuela interim terminal. Currently, the interim terminal still nears completion, but the MMDA decided to implement the ban despite such.
"We are pushing through with the provincial bus ban starting August 15, only during rush hours,” Jose Arturo Garcia, MMDA general manager, said.
MMDA said buses hailing from the north shall end their route in Cubao in Quezon City while those coming from the south shall end their route in Pasay City. Those without terminals in Pasay City can use the agency-operated Southwest Interim Provincial Terminal (SWIPT).
Meanwhile, the dry run of the driver-only ban will also be implemented on August 15. It will also be implemented during rush hour.
But there no fine yet for the driver-only ban, the MMDA said. “If the one week dry run goes smooth, the target fine to be imposed is P1, 000,” Garcia said.