The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority will have to thresh out certain issues with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) before implementing the bus management and dispatch system for the EDSA Bus Carousel, acting MMDA Chairman Romando Artes said.
The two agencies should find a holding area for around 600 buses deployed along the exclusive bus lane each day, he said.
In an interview over radio dzBB, Artes said there is not enough space in the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX), currently used as a “temporary holding area” for buses on the southern end of the EDSA Bus Carousel.
At present, with the continuous deployment of the 600 buses along the EDSA Bus Carousel from Monumento to PITX and back, the MMDA has decided to install closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras equipped with video analytics to monitor the movement of the buses and ensure there would be no buildup, he said.
But last June 14, 2023,further calls for NCAP were revived following a deadly collision involving a motorbike driver and an SUV in the EDSA Shaw Boulevard tunnel. The former was struck by a tanker driver who was travelling in the next lane when both drivers were in the EDSA Carousel Bus Lane.
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) lost no time in working with the Office of the Solicitor General to prepare and submit a move to the Supreme Court asking it to consider removing the temporary restraining order that had been placed on the implementation of the NCAP.
The CCTV cameras could help set a time for buses to pick up and drop off passengers, according to Artes, in order to prevent the buildup of buses that could result in stranded passengers.
The MMDA’s bus management and dispatch system has also enabled a QR code system to monitor bus drivers, including their unsettled fines from traffic violations.
With additional report: Ghio Ong – The Philippine Star
