Huli ka!

Smile! You're on camera!

MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando has announced on Sunday, January 25, 2009, that the MMDA has started using traffic surveillance cameras on EDSA to catch traffic violators in the act. The program, which is currently on a three month trial stage, was implemented in support of their "no physical contact" policy. Similar to "speed camera" programs used in other countries around the world, violators caught on tape will be sent a notice (presumably, to the address indicated on the vehicle's registration) which will contain the details of their violation as well as a still photo of the vehicle "in the act". Violators will then have 7 days upon receipt of the notice to either file an appeal with the Traffic Adjudication Board or pay the fine at any Metrobank branch. Failure to pay within the 7 days will automatically result in the flagging of the vehicle's registration and/or the owner's driver's license, which will be cause for their non-renewal.

For those of you who are interested, you can get more details on the MMDA's traffic surveillance cameras here.

Didn't they implement a similar program a few years back? I seem to recall some friends telling me that they've received a violation notices before, mostly those who were caught on camera driving on the yellow lanes. Anyway, I hope they're able to iron out the details on this as issues such as other people driving somebody else's car and relatively short videos not telling the whole story are bound to cause some confusion (and irritation, at least on the part of the vehicle owners).

Seems like the MMDA has issued a new ordinance regarding crossing the EDSA-Ortigas intersection at the ground level, according to this thread from Tsikot.com's Goon Squad. Private vehicles heading southbound are not allowed to cross the intersection, we suppose in an attempt to reduce the congestion in that area (which is typically caused by buses in the loading and unloading station right after POEA).

If anyone has pics of that area showing signage of the new rule, we'd appreciate if you could please forward it to us at hulika.contribute@gmail.com.

Anyway, thanks to Tom for the heads-up!

A major traffic jam was formed yesterday on southbound EDSA after one of the lanes on the Magallanes flyover was closed due to the discovery of cracks and holes on the Pasay-bound side of the bridge. Although the cracks were supposedly first discovered by a group of DPWH bridge engineers at 8am during a routine inspection, the lane was only closed at 11am when local policemen noticed the damage. However, Engr. Oscar Cammayo, chief of the DPWH’s 2nd Metro Manila Engineering District, claims that the 40-year old bridge is still structurally sound.

Wonder what kind of inspection they could have done in a few hours to claim that the bridge is still sound? Considering the pounding that the bridge takes everyday and the possibility of earthquakes, wouldn't a more in-depth investigation be called for?

Hindi pa pala patay yung provincial bus stop project. Here's a shot of the one in front of Megamall, taken last night. Looks like it'll eat up one of the non-yellow lanes.

Saw a couple of vehicles ignore the no left turn sign in this intersection last Sunday afternoon. First was a Toyota Lite Ace with plate no. TFC-231. A Hyundai Tucson ('ata) with plate no. ZRX-778 followed it immediately after.
There was also a taxi as well, but we weren't able to capture a picture of it. Binubusinahan na nga sila ng ibang tao at nanghaharang ng mga dumederetso, pero di lang man nila pinapansin.

Anyway, they should really put a 24-hour camera to monitor this intersection. Sobrang dami ang sasakyan na nag-i-ignore ng traffic light and no left turn signs. Sadly, karamihan pa d'yan ay mga PNP na papunta o nanggagaling sa Krame.

The MMDA has announced that it will set up 13 new bus stops on EDSA for the exclusive use of provincial buses. This was prompted by findings showing that the sharing of bus stops by both metro and provincial buses are a major cause of traffic congestion.

Oh no! This means that there will be 13 more spots where you can expect traffic on the already highly congested thoroughfare. Anyway, aren't provincial buses only allowed to load and unload passengers on their bus terminals? This is why they're not supposed to use the yellow lanes, right?

The MMDA is currently monitoring EDSA to determine the most appropriate speed limit for the major thoroughfare. According to MMDA chair Bayani Fernando, the 40kph speed limit set some time ago is not valid anymore, even if the average speed right of vehicles traversing EDSA is 31.88kph. Fernando believes that since EDSA is considered a "highway", the speed limit should be around 100kph.

100kph on EDSA?! With people crossing on the ground level, buses swerving in and out of the yellow lanes and stopping suddenly at the middle of the road, motorcycles lane splitting and swerving right and left, vehicles going at 40kph driving on the fast lane and staying two lanes out before turning right?! Yeah, right!

Again, we feel that 60kph would be a more appropriate limit, with 40kph being the limit for the yellow lanes. Until drivers and pedestrians learn some discipline (and the only way they can learn is through proper enforcement), then anything faster than this would be ridiculous.

The MMDA has announced that the taxis, jeepneys and other forms of PUVs, except for Metro Manila buses, may be banned from using the yellow lanes on EDSA. The move will, according to MMDA Traffic Operations Center Executive Director Angelito Vergel de Dios, ensure an uninterrupted flow of buses on the outer lanes of EDSA, and is being done in preparation for the implementation of the Organized Bus Route system. Read more about it here.

First, the yellow lanes are not the ones that are clogged with vehicles, buses or otherwise. Second, when will metro buses be banned from using the non-yellow lanes? These buses are the ones that contribute to the traffic situation, especially in and around the loading stations.

Passed through EDSA around 4pm today and the sudden downpour brought about some light flooding. The metro's sewage system must really be in a bad condition despite MMDA's claims of progress on their flood control efforts.

Here are a few snaps:

Visibility was pretty badSome flooding on the yellow lanes right before the Shaw underpassMore flooding in front of SM Megamall
The people's penchant to litter plus, to some extent, all these real estate developments have really affected the metro's sewage system. The MMDA really has to step up in their clearing efforts and initiate moves to increase the number and effectivity storm drains and sewers.

Surprise, surprise! Seems like there's actually a 40kph speed limit on EDSA, which was established by Republic Act No. 4136.

But the MMDA is not enforcing this since the limit set by the law, which was first enacted on June 20, 1964, is not applicable in this day and age. According to MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando, there are so many cars that it is practically impossible for cars to reach this speed. MMDA General Manager Robert Nacianceno, on the other hand, is of the opinion that automotive safety technology has advanced enough to make this limit inapplicable. Read more about it here.

Well, we think that it's about time that the government review and revise this particular law. A 60 or even 80kph speed limit would be more applicable to major thoroughfares like EDSA. However, we feel that a separate speed limit should be applied to the yellow lanes, since driving fast on these lanes would present the most danger to pedestrians and property. In this case, a 40kph limit would probably be best.

P.S. Chairman BF's opinion is kinda short-sighted. While it is true that EDSA is congested for most of the day, it is still possible to drive way beyond the 40kph limit during certain periods of the day and most definitely on weekends. So having the right speed limit, and enforcing it, would still be appropriate.

The fire that hit the residences in Laperal St., Guadalupe Viejo, really effed up traffic today. It's located right behind Loyola on EDSA.

I can understand that traffic on the southbound lanes would be affected by this, with all the firemen and their trucks, the police managing traffic, the ever-present media, and the people affected by the fire. What I can't understand is why does it have to affect the northbound lanes. Hindi naman kita yung sunog kasi nakaharang yung MRT. It took me around an hour to get from the middle of the Ayala-EDSA underpass to Guadalupe this morning.

Mga usisero talaga. Tama na 'yan!

Anyway, here's a link to an article on the Inquirer.

Quiapo traffic rerouted due to Black Nazarene
With the Feast of the Black Nazarene being celebrated today, traffic in Quiapo has been rerouted. Check the article for details on the rerouting scheme.

MMDA's pink line parking scheme
The MMDA has begun pilot testing their new pink line parking scheme on EDSA. The line is supposed to clearly delineate where the road ends and the sidewalk begins, and is targeted to curb illegal parking on major roads.

Kaya dapat walang tatawid sa pink line. Ang muhuling tumawid, bading!

MMDA likes motorcycles
The MMDA is NOT in favor of banning motorcycles from major roads. However, this doesn't mean that they will be providing exclusive lanes for them.

Considering that the majority of their enforcers get around on bikes, it'll be really stupid of them to support the proposed bill to ban them. Dapat talaga, hulihin na lang nila ang dapat hulihin para mabawasan ang mga aksidente.

One percentage point reduction in oil tariff planned
A one percentage point reduction in oil tariff has been announced by GMA today, in an effort to cushion the impact rising world oil prices on the local economy. Also, she has asked the oil companies to use the savings from the tax cut to bring down prices of diesel, instead of applying it across the board to all fuel products.

Another article also mentioned that despite the tariff cut, pump prices are still expected to rise on January 15.

Considering that our pump prices are among the highest in the region, I'm pretty sure there are a lot of other things that they can do bring prices down.

Here's another example of the ineffectivity of the MMDA's loading and unloading station. This time it's the Buendia-EDSA southbound one.

The commuters coming from Buendia usually wait right underneath the flyover 'cos the station is too far and there's no protection from the rains on the long walk to the station. Of course, passengers alighting from the buses also prefer to go down here.
So what's the MMDA going to do about this?

At the Guadalupe-EDSA southbound bus stop, the buses usually partially block the third lane while loading and unloading passengers. And these buses usually do this before the actual bus stop.
Again, where are the enforcers? They're supposed to prevent these buses from stopping before the bus stop and anywhere except on the outermost lane, and force commuters to go to the designated bus stops.

Here's my analysis of the faults of the MMDA's loading and unloading stations, using pics of the Santolan-EDSA northbound station from yesterday and today.

First, during rush hours, when private vehicles freely use the yellow lanes 'cos of the large volume of vehicles, more traffic is caused when these vehicles merge with the third lane to avoid going into the stations.
Next, since most commuters would want to avoid the long walk to and from the stations (most of these are quite a ways off from the intersections where they come from), the buses end up loading and unloading passengers after the station.Lastly, these buses now try to merge back into the non-yellow lanes in order for them to avoid the stoplight at the ground level (typical on EDSA northbound), causing more traffic on the lanes leading to the flyover and blocking the vehicles heading towards the ground level intersection.So, at this point, I don't really think it helps reduce traffic. In fact, it probably adds to it.

Now, if the MMDA somehow manages to force these buses to load and unload only at the stations, then that's when these stations will be an advantage. Well, except for the part where the private vehicles on the yellow lanes forcibly merge back to avoid them. Parang walang solusyon 'ata para d'yan.

That is, according to MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando.

Has it really? What do you think?

Check out the article here.

Task force nabs 386 illegal PUVs, 24 extortionists
Great! Nabawasan na ng sasakyan, pati buwaya na din!

NLEX ready for the holidays
25% more cars! Good thing I'm just staying in Metro Manila. In fact, traffic was already light this afternoon. Sana palaging ganito na lang.

MMDA to put "giggle strips" on EDSA
Is that what they're called? I've always referred to them as lagalags, 'cos that's the sound you hear when you go over them.

Lagalagalagalagalag.

Talagang iniiwasan ng mga bus dumaan sa mga 'to. Here are a few pics:

EDSA-Connecticut
EDSA-Buendia
EDSA-Mantrade

Are these things really helping reduce traffic on EDSA?
The buses try to avoid them for some reason. And commuters think they're too far and prefer waiting near the intersections. And don't even get me started on those yellow lane-passing cars that swerve to avoid these at the last minute.

If the traffic enforcers do their jobs and force the buses to use these stations, then maybe, just maybe, it'll improve things. But at the rate things are going, malabong-malabo 'yon.

Just look at these buses at the Pioneer bus stop on northbound EDSA. They're practically occupying four of the five lanes.
And to think it was Maundy Thursday!