The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Tuesday opened its two-day motorcycle consultation workshop aimed to have a consensus and action plan to further improve traffic management along major thoroughfares, including possible establishment of motorcycle lanes, specifically in Commonwealth Avenue.
MMDA Acting Chairman Engr. Carlo Antonio Dimayuga III said that the vehicular volume in EDSA has exceeded pre-pandemic levels as restrictions continue to ease and registered vehicles in Metro Manila continue to increase at 2.9 million last 2021, based on the data from the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Land Transportation Office (LTO). Of that, 1.44 million are motorcycles.
"Based on our data, the daily average number of vehicles plying EDSA is now at 410,000 and has surpassed the 405,000 pre-pandemic mark because of a number of road activities and face-to-face classes reopening,” Dimayuga said.
"With this number, we're planning to put an exclusive motorcycle lane along Commonwealth Avenue to put the vehicles in order and as part of road safety for the motorcycle-riding public," he added.
For his part, MMDA General Manager Baltazar Melgar hopes that the consultation workshop would result to knowledge-sharing, as well as discussion of concrete policy directions and guidelines for motorcycles and other public utility vehicles.
"We, at MMDA, see ourselves as your partners on the road. We want to ensure your safety by providing good and quality infrastructure, as well as to maintain order and discipline on the roads by enforcing the proper rules and regulations."
“Let us make the roads of the Metropolis safe,” said Melgar during the workshop.
Meanwhile, 1-Rider Partylist Representatives Bonifacio Bosita and Rodge Gutierrez, who were also present in the workshop, both expressed their support for the MMDA.
“We are one with the MMDA in this kind of initiatives which recognize motorcycle riders as the most exposed and at-risk sector on the roads, right now,” the legislators said.
The event was attended by different agencies and stakeholders from the government and private sectors consisting of bus operators, jeepney operators and motorcycle groups as well as academe. Some of the participants are from the DOTr, LTO, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), Philippine National Police - Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG), Philippine National Police - National Capital Region Police Office (PNP-NCRPO), Quezon City local government unit, bus operators, jeepney operators in Commonwealth, and motorcycle Transport Network Vehicle Service (TNVS). (Source: MMDA)
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