Quezon City court puts the brakes on EDSA provincial bus ban

The MMDA wants to ban provincial buses on EDSA to ease congestion on Metro Manila’s main thoroughfare. FILE PHOTO / INQUIRER.NET 

QUEZON City Regional Trial Court Branch 223, through a 25-page order dated July 31, issued a preliminary injunction against Memorandum Circular No. 2019-001 of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) amending routes of provincial buses and prohibiting them on EDSA, effectively halting the implementation of the provincial bus ban on the thoroughfare.

A report published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer today said the court also issued a preliminary injunction against Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Regulation No. 19-002, which revoked the business permits issued to public transport terminals located along EDSA.

The MMDA last week said it was eyeing to start conducting a dry run of the EDSA provincial bus ban on August 7.

The Office of the Solicitor General, legal counsel of MMDA and LTFRB, were given until August 14 to respond to the order, the Inquirer said.

The MMDA said the ban on provincial buses is a measure to reduce the number of vehicles passing through EDSA.