INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
OF THE 2,736 buses that would be covered by the ban on provincial buses on EDSA, only 136 took part in the first day of the voluntary test run held Wednesday by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).
The MMDA pushed through with the dry run despite a preliminary injunction issued by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court last week. The agency said the dry run is a way to determine whether prohibiting provincial buses from passing through EDSA will reduce congestion on Metro Manila’s main thoroughfare.
Had the MMDA made participation in the bus ban dry run mandatory, 1,477 buses coming from the north should have ended their trips at the Valenzuela Interim Terminal. The 880 provincial buses with terminals in Cubao, Quezon City would have ended their trips at the Santa Rosa Interim Terminal (SRIT) in Laguna. Another 379 buses with terminals in Pasay City which are servicing southern Luzon would have ended their trips at the Parañaque Interim Terminal Exchange.
The MMDA said only 27 operators with 110 buses ended their trips at the terminal in Valenzuela City, while 26 did at SRIT.
MMDA general manager Jose Arturo “Jojo” Garcia had earlier said it was possible there would be little to no participants to the dry run even as the agency secured the commitment of several bus operators.
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