MONDAY SEPIEMBER 23, 2019
Fernando wants to revive'Organized Bus Route'
By Rlo N. Anja
TO BE able to solve the traffic woes
in Metro Manila, especially along the
strelch of Epifanio delos Santos Av-
enue, the organized bus route (OBR)
system must be revived, according to
Marikina City Rep. Bayani Femando,
a former Metropolitan Manila Develop-
ment Authority chairman.
Interuiewed on television, Fernando
said he still considers the OBR project
as asolution to end the EDSA tr;ffic.
I
"I believe that what started then
when I was then the chairman... and
when I left (the system there), is still the
solution wben it comes to EDSA (grid-
lock). That is the OBR," he said. "
"You could still a yellow lane (of the
OBR), but some of these lanes were al-
ready erased in some parts of (EDSA).
That is how the system was neglect. Let
us revive it," he added.
In 2003, the MMDA under Fernan-
do's leadership passed MMDA Resolu-
tion No. 03-28 to implem€nt tho OBR
scheme "as one ofthe possible solutions
to efficiently manage tlrt floV uf buses
along EDSA by controlling'rbe head-
ways between buses dispatched at ter-
minals and by- strictly enforcing rules
on the use ofpdblic utility vehicle lanes
and loading and unloading areas."
Fernando said traffic solutions to
EDSA must be permanent and would
stay no matter who the sitting president
\ t",{@€ -A\r'
or the transport secretary is.
"A bus that is not full of passengers
must not be dispatched at the terminal.
The number of bus must equate the
number ofthe passengers," he said.
_ While Caloocan City Rep. Edgar
Erice wanted to ban around 300.000
private yehicles on EDSA from 5 a.m.
to 9_ a_.6. un6 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. during
weekdays, Samar Rep. Edgar Mary
Uarm,ento proposed to convert the in-
nermost lanes of EDSA into exoress
bus lanes that could be accessible t'o the
stations ofthe Metro Rail Transit 3.
The former traffic czar ofthe Nation-
al Capital Region welcomed anv oro-
posals that could help
fix the perinnial
traffic on EDSA.