Number coding back in Metro Manila starting Aug. 15

MANILA: The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will begin the reimplementation of a variation of the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program (UVVRP) on Monday, August 15, to help ease the traffic in the metro during window hours.

MMDA Acting Chairman Carlo Dimayuga III told the Philippine News Agency in an interview that vehicles with license plates that end in certain digits will not be allowed on Metro Manila roads from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays, except holidays.

During the specified window hours, vehicles with license plates ending in 1 and 2 are not allowed to travel on Mondays, 3 and 4 on Tuesdays, 5 and 6 on Wednesdays, 7 and 8 on Thursdays, and 9 and 0 on Fridays. All vehicles are permitted to pass through Metro Manila roads outside the window hours.

“From August 15 to 17, we will start the dry run and will only remind motorists of the expanded number coding scheme. From August 18 onwards, the MMDA will start apprehending and will issue traffic violation tickets on the ground and through our non-contact apprehension policy,” Dimayuga stated.

Public utility vehicles (PUVs) transport network vehicle services (TNVS), motorcycles, garbage trucks, fuel trucks, marked government vehicles, fire trucks, ambulances, marked media vehicles, and motor vehicles transporting “essential or perishable goods” are exempted from the number coding scheme.

MMDA will be reimplementing the number coding scheme to handle the anticipated rise in vehicular volume as the new school year starts this month and full face-to-face classes will return in November. The number coding scheme is expected to reduce traffic volume by 20% during rush hours.

Dimayuga also noted that the existing number coding regulations of the respective local governments will be observed on secondary roads as well.

Photo by Kap Maceda Aguila

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