MMDA: Car volume along EDSA to surpass record

The current "record high" volume of vehicles using Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue might be surpassed as Christmas Day approaches, as the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) allows buses to use portions of EDSA and other roads in Metro Manila for provincial trips.

- - Ghio Ong

MMDA Chairman Romando Artes said more vehicles - up to 480,000 per day - are expected to use EDSA in the second and third weeks of December.

The estimate surpasses the latest MMDA count of about 464,000 vehicles using the avenue on a single day.

Artes said the MMDA expects travel along EDSA to become slower, with speeds dropping from the current average of 21 kilometers per hour to as low as 15 kph in the next two weeks.

As this developed, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) modified the light train schedules in Metro Manila to "offer greater convenience to passengers during the holiday season."