MMDA mulls closure of “window hours”, resumption of Pasig River ferry service

Pasig River ferry in 2007. INQUIRER file photo

To help alleviate the expected traffic congestion caused by major infrastructure projects over the next three years, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Francis Tolentino has proposed ending the “window hours” rule of the one-day number coding ban. Under the number coding scheme, supposed to be a temporary measure during construction of the EDSA light rail transit train system, cars will be banned from running from 7 am to 7 pm in Metro Manila depending on the last digit of one’s license plate. (That’s if one ever gets a license plate. If not, the conduction sticker, which is supposed to used only for transportation to the dealership, will be used as basis for the one-day ban.) During the window hours, from 10am to 3 pm, cars that are under the ban are allowed to travel on city roads. Now the MMDA is proposing to extend the ban throughout the day.

Another measure proposed is the four-day school week. Tolentino said in a radio interview that such measures have proven successful in Mexico, Colorado and Canada. He said that the number of school hours required by the Department of Education in one school year could still be covered even with a four-day school week. He said that schools will incur less expenses, and likewise parents as well. This will also open up the “free day,” which he cited as Friday, for possible make up classes during the monsoon season. He said that in some areas, such a scheme also led to better grades from students.

The MMDA also put up a new website, www.mmroadway.com, to alert the public on the status of the 15 infrastructure projects.  As of Sunday afternoon, the website that the MMDA put up to update the public on the status of all 15 infrastructure projects to be implemented this year went kaput.

Tolentino sais that the MMDA will also revive the Pasig River ferry system, using its present boats, by April 2014. If successful, he said that private entrepreneurs can later take over the service to provide an alternative mode of transport.

The previous privately operated ferry service closed down in 2011 due to business losses, Tolentino recalled. A study later showed that the vessels used were too big and the waiting time at the stations was too long that’s why the number of passengers dropped, he added.

“This is the MMDA’s way of helping those who will find it hard to commute,” Tolentino told reporters on the sidelines of the two-day Traffic Management Summit in Makati City, which his agency held to draw up traffic-alleviation measures in view of the 15 major road projects starting this year.

Tolentino said the MMDA also hopes to “inspire the private sector to rejoin the ferry system.”

The agency would charge “a minimal fare” for the use of its 40-seater ferries, he added.

With reports from  Jaymee T. Gamil, Rafael L. Antonio, Inquirer Research