Metro Mayors Seek to Reimplement High Occupancy Vehicle Lanes on EDSA

After staging a dry run of it in December 2017, the Metro Manila Council (MMC) will reimplement the High Occupancy Vehicle Lanes (HOVLs) on EDSA during rush hour.

Though no date was given as to when it will be reimplemented, the program will essentially continue where it left off in December 2017. Under the program,  vehicles with two or more passengers will be able to pass through EDSA using the HOVLs which have been designated as the fifth and leftmost lanes. "Ang gagawin namin two or more lanes sa buong EDSA during rush hours for the HOVL (We will be utilizing two or more lanes in the entire EDSA during rush hours for the HOVL)," said Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) General Manager Jojo Garcia in an interview on the sidelines of the regular meeting of the MMC on Tuesday in Mandaluyong City. "Binigyan kami ng authority ng MMC na anytime pwede kami gumawa ng dry-run (We were authorized by the MMC to conduct a dry run anytime)." The MMC is the policy-making body of the MMDA. On the first day of the HOVLs dry run on EDSA on December 11, 2017, the MMDA apprehended 1,275 violators. In addition, 3,722 highly-tinted vehicles were monitored to have violated the traffic scheme through the no-contact apprehension policy of the MMDA while 84 were apprehended through cameras of traffic enforcers on the ground. Prior to last ear's dry run being terminated by the MMDA as its traffic enforcers were supposedly having difficulty inspecting heavily-tinted vehicles, violators of the HOVLs program were supposed to pay a fine of PHP500.