At least four major transport groups have expressed opposition to the suggestion of an official of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to use the EDSA Busway for carpooling services as part of the measures to improve the movement of people in the National Capital Region.

The latest transport group to back Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Giovanni “Banoy” Z. Lopez was the Mega Manila Consortium Corporation which said that the proposal to share EDSA Busway with private vehicles is not the solution to the road congestion.

“While we also appreciate the efforts in addressing the worsening traffic condition, we believe that permitting special access on the EDSA Busway is not the solution to the road congestion,” said Shiela Pascual-Alberto, president of the Mega Manila Consortium Corporation.

“We are also ready to cooperate with the agencies task to monitor traffic in the metro. But for now, our simple call is, ‘if ain’t broke, don’t fix it’,” he added.

Newly-appointed MMDA general manager Nicolas Torre III was earlier quoted on the proposal to sharing the EDSA Busway to large vehicles with at least 10 passengers on board.

This, however, was immediately rejected by Lopez who firmly argued that the EDSA Carousel was meant for passenger buses in order to move as many people without the hassle of traffic congestion.

“The Department of Transportation is opposed to the proposal to allow carpooling on the EDSA Busway. The busway was designed primarily to move more people-not more cars-by providing fast and uninterrupted service to buses carrying up to 300,000 passengers daily,” said Lopez in a statement.

“Any move to open this lane to private vehicles, even under the guise of carpooling, will inevitably slow down bus operations and defeat the very purpose for which the busway was created,” he added.

The stand of the DOTr was also backed by at least three major groups, the Provincial Bus Operators Association of the Philippines (PBOAP), Pasang-Masda and Altodap (Alliance of Transport Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines), which all stated that the carpooling proposal will defeat the real intent of the EDSA Busway.

Pasang Masda and Altodap, both are groups operating passenger jeepneys, said they benefit from the current set up of the busway system along EDSA through strategic locations of bus terminals.

They emphasized that the proposal would only affect the operation of the EDSA Carousel, saying it would either crowd or block the one-lane busway.

This was also stressed by Mega Manila Consortium Corporation which stated said that the proposal is even prone to abuse.

“Let it be emphasized that the EDSA Busway, through what is commonly known today as the EDSA Carousel, was purposely created to ease up traffic on the whole stretch of EDSA,” said Alberto.

“True to tell, but even the ordinary comfort of commuters on the EDSA Busway has been repeatedly abused by mindless motorists, whose sense of entitlement extends on the highway,” she added.

The group expressed apprehension that the carpooling proposal may only cause problem to a good system that has been working well.