San Juan City Mayor and Metro Manila Council (MMC) President Francis Zamora said on Tuesday, May 2, the full implementation of the single-ticketing system in the National Capital Region (NCR) may start in a couple of weeks.
"Honestly, I am looking at a couple of weeks. Hindi naman mahabang panahon po ito dahil yung integration naman po ng ibang lungsod ay ongoing na (Honestly, I am looking at a couple of weeks. This won't take a long time because the integration of the other cities into the system is ongoing as well)," the mayor said.
The dry run of the single-ticketing system started on Tuesday, May 2, in the following pilot cities:
- Manila
- Quezon City
- Parañaque City
- Muntinlupa City
- Caloocan City
- Valenzuela City
- San Juan City
Zamora explained that the mayors of the seven pilot cities will convene soon to discuss and assess the results of the dry-run.
The single-ticketing system aims to streamline the traffic violations and fines of the 16 cities and lone municipality comprising the National Capital Region (NCR). It also allows violators to pay their fines using e-wallets and other digital payment platforms on the spot, preventing the need for them to proceed to the city hall to pay for their violation.
Earlier, all the mayors of the 16 cities and lone municipality in the NCR signed Metro Manila Traffic Code of 2023, which defines the 20 common traffic violations and the corresponding standardized penalties. The violations include:
- Disregarding traffic signs
- Illegal parking (attended and unattended)
- Number coding UVVRP
- Truck ban
- Light truck ban
- Reckless Driving
- Unregistered motor vehicle
- Driving without license
-Tricycle ban
- Obstruction
- Dress code for motorcycle
- Overloading
- Defective motorcycle accessories
- Unauthorized modification
- Arrogance/Discourteous conduct (driver)
- Loading and Unloading in Prohibited Zones
- Illegal counterflow
- Overspeeding
The fines for these 20 violations range from P500 to P5,000.
The following special laws will also be implemented in the region:
- Seat Belts Use Act of 1999
- Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act
- Mandatory Use of Motorcycle Helmet Act
- Children's Safety on Motorcycle Act
- Anti-Distracted Driving Act
Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Acting Chairman Romando Artes explained that with the new system, motorists will no longer have to surrender their licenses once they committed a traffic violation.
With the single-ticketing system, the MMDA will provide handheld devices to its traffic enforcers that can offer cashless payment options to violators. These devices will be connected to the Land Transportation Management System (LTMS) of the LTO to enable real-time data sharing and verification.
Aside from the handheld gadgets, body cameras will also be issued to the enforcers that are connected to the MMDA command center in real time.
The chairman stressed that with this system, corruption and other means of under the table negotiations between the enforcer and the violator will be prevented.
Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Sec. Benhur Abalos said that he would urge other regions in the country to also adopt the single-ticketing system to harmonize the penalties for traffic violators.