MMDA chairman Don Artes discusses the positive results of the study they conducted in relation to the 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. working hours for employees of national government agencies. The MMDA is set to recommend it to President Marcos. (photo: MMDA)
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will ask President Marcos to consider implementing new working hours for national government agencies (NGAs) based in the National Capital Region in a bid to ease traffic congestion amid the planned EDSA rehabilitation.
MMDA chairman Don Artes said the recommendation that they will submit to Malacañang was based on the result of the study they conducted in relation to the impact of changing the working hours of national government agencies from 7 a.m. to 4 a.m.
But he said the recommendation will still be finalized with NCR mayors through the Metro Manila Council.
“We’ll get first the consensus of the mayors. We’ll coordinate with them and ask them what their preference is so that the data we’ll be submitting to the President is complete and the recommendations will be in line with various experiences of each of the LGUs,” said Artes.
“We are targeting to finish the recommendation before March,” he added.
The target date of the start of EDSA rehabilitation is in March.
Adjusted working hours
The adjusted Working Hours Policy was implemented on May 2 last year through a resolution approved by the Metro Manila Council.
Its implementation paved the way for the MMDA Traffic Engineering Center to conduct various surveys near the city and municipal halls of 17 local government units (LGUs), as well as along radial and circumferential roads in Metro Manila.
This resulted in a total of 218 data at various locations collected from both before and after the implementation of the policy.
MMDA Traffic Surveyors also conducted a series of travel time and travel speed surveys on roads near city and municipal halls across all LGUs in Metro Manila, which provided a comparison of the average peak hour data collected before and after the policy implementation.
And based on the result of the traffic data, there were improvements in travel times and travel speeds across LGUs.
On average, it said travel time improved by 10.20 percent while travel speed increased by 20.70 percent.
Positive effects
The 7 a.m.-4 p.m. working hours schedule, according to Artes, had a positive effect on the traffic flow among local government units (LGUs) based on the study.
The report stated that adopting the schedule will bring faster travel time during peak hours in Metro Manila’s major thoroughfares, as well as decrease in traffic delays.
NGA employees using private vehicles during peak hours will be distributed by 37.15 percent of the 473,533 employees.
Artes said the rate is equivalent to an estimate of 175,918 employees.
He added that 47.20 percent of the total number of NGA employees, or an estimate of 223,508 employees using public transport will avoid joining rush hour alongside private sector employees.