By Jhon Aldrin Casinas
Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto cited recent efforts of Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) as one of the reasons that “greatly increased” the volume of vehicles along major and inner roads in the city.
Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto on his first speech as mayor, July 01, 2019 at Pasig City Hall. (KEVIN TRISTAN ESPIRITU)
“In recent days, we have had to deal with even more challenges. Most notably, the efforts of the #MMDA along #EDSA have greatly increased vehicle volume in C5 and even the interior roads of Pasig,” Sotto said in a Facebook post recently.
“We will defer to the wisdom & authority of the MMDA, but this increased traffic on our side is a reality for now,” he added.
In a bid to ease traffic along EDSA, the MMDA recently conducted the dry run of its provincial buses ban.
It also strictly enforced its yellow-lane policy on all buses plying along Metro Manila’s main thoroughfare.
Despite all the measures targeting the metro’s traffic woes, Sotto said traffic congestion in Metro Manila will continue to worsen “unless we lessen the demand for cars.”
“This means a greater focus on moving people rather than private vehicles. This means incorporating more non-car modes of transportation in our long-term plans,” Sotto said.
“We will balance the longer term with the short term need to manage traffic better. This will be difficult, but we are prepared to fight for better mobility in Pasig,” he added.
In Pasig City, Sotto lamented the lack of available data as “one main difficulty” in improving the management of traffic along the city’s streets.
On his first day in office, Sotto has suspended the odd-even scheme in the city. He also created a traffic management task force that is expected to present on Thursday its solutions to the city’s traffic problems.