DOTr: EDSA Busway transported more than 47-M commuters

MANILA: In a release, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) announced that a total of 47,104,197 people rode the EDSA Busway in 2021. 

DOTr added that the EDSA Busway saw an average ridership of 129,000 daily. The Busway is a bus transport service that travels on the dedicated bus lane along the EDSA median.

Also known EDSA Carousel, the service is a project of the DOTr, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). 

Based on the data from the LTFRB, the EDSA Busway recorded more than two million commuters for the first three months of 2021: two million in January, 2.3 million in February, and 2.4 million in March.

Meanwhile, 1.6 million commuters were recorded in April as Metro Manila was placed under stricter quarantine measures. Ridership increased once again in May with 2.6 million commuters.

For the remaining months of 2021, EDSA Busway ridership data has doubled as it recorded 6.4 million in October, 7.4 million in November, and had its greatest number of commuters in December with 7.6 million.

As the Phase 1 of the Service Contracting Program ended on June 2021, the EDSA Busway recorded a total ridership of 4.6 million.

To recall, the Service Contracting Program, wherein public utility bus (PUB) drivers operating on the EDSA Busway are paid by the government on a per-kilometer basis, also allowed the continuous operations of the “Libreng Sakay” or Free Ride Service program for medical frontliners and essential workers.

Meanwhile, DOTr Assistant Secretary for Road Transport and Infrastructure Mark Steven Pastor said the EDSA Busway could help contain COVID-19 transmission, as the service significantly reduces commuters' travel time and their risk of exposure from the virus.

“As an example, the two-three hours of travel pre-pandemic from MOA (Mall of Asia in Pasay City) to Monumento in Caloocan is now reduced to around one hour through the EDSA Busway,” Asec. Pastor pointed out.

Photo from Department of Transportation (DOTr) 

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