MMDA mulls reviving motorcycle lane along Commonwealth Avenue

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is now looking at the possibility of bringing back exclusive motorcycle lanes along Commonwealth Avenue.

MMDA Acting Chairman Engr. Carlo Antonio Dimayuga III bared the plan “to put the vehicles in order and as part of road safety for the motorcycle-riding public.”

During the Motorcycle Consultation Workshop, MMDA General Manager Baltazar Melgar cited the report from the agency’s Traffic Engineering Center stating that in the Commonwealth Avenue, 44 percent of the 302,316 vehicles average daily traffic in 2021 is made up of motorcycles (approximately 133,591).

Dimayuga also shared the agency’s data, noting that the daily average number of vehicles plying Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (EDSA) is already at 410,000 — surpassing the 405,000-pre-pandemic mark.

Further, the MMDA Chair shared that of the 2.9 million registered vehicles in Metro Manila last year, 1.44 million are motorcycles. 

Relatedly, Melgar is hoping that the workshop would result in knowledge-sharing, "as well as discussion of concrete policy directions and guidelines for motorcycles and other public utility vehicles.”

"We, at MMDA, see ourselves as your partners on the road. We want to ensure your safety by providing good and quality infrastructure, as well as to maintain order and discipline on the roads by enforcing the proper rules and regulations," he said.

“Let us make the roads of the Metropolis safe,” the MMDA GM said during the event. 

For their part, 1-Rider Partylist Representatives Bonifacio Bosita and Rodge Gutierrez, who also attended the workshop, expressed support towards the MMDA program.  “We are one with the MMDA in these kinds of initiatives which recognize motorcycle riders as the most exposed and at-risk sector on the roads, right now,” the legislators said.

The event was attended by various stakeholders from the government and private sectors. Some of the participants are from the Department of Transportation, Land Transportation Office, Department of Public Works and Highways, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group, Philippine National Police-National Capital Region Police Office, Quezon City local government unit, bus operators, jeepney operators in Commonwealth, and motorcycle Transport Network Vehicle Service firms.

Photos from Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, Ruben D. Manahan IV

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