EDSA motorcycle lane under study as traffic-reduction measure
2024-Apr-22 12:00
SHARED LANE. Motorcycle riders occupy the designated lane for bikers on EDSA's northbound lane in Guadalupe, Makati City in this September 2023 photo. The Department of Transportation and Metro Manila Development Authority are mulling the idea of a side-by-side motorcycle and bicycle lanes. PHOTO: Ben Briones/Philippine News Agency
MANILA – The Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), along with concerned government agencies, are studying the viability of having a motorcycle lane as another measure to solve the perennial traffic problem along the 23.8-kilometer Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (EDSA).
Based on the DOTr study, around 170,000 motorcycles use EDSA daily.
"'Yung EDSA po natin, four lanes lang po 'yan. 'Yung isang lane meron na tayong busway. Doon sa right side na portion 'yung bicycle lane. We are looking siguro po 'yung katabi ng bicycle lane ang gawin nating motorcycle lane," Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said in a news release on Sunday.
"Kasi ngayon makikita n'yo sa EDSA, lahat ng lane kinakain . We're working with MMDA on how we can improve the traffic situation relating to motorcycles," he added.
With a motorcyle lane in EDSA, the government also aims to address the economic cost of traffic, the transport chief added.
Bautista cited a 2017 study by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), stating that economic cost of traffic is P3.5 billion a day in Metro Manila.
By 2022, the economic losses from traffic have reached P4.9 billion a day.
JICA projected this to balloon to P9 billion a day by 2030.
"Economic cost [of traffic], ito po 'yung additional fuel, additional cost, nawawalang opportunity for growth, lost time natin sa family," Bautista explained.
The MMDA previously considered a shared bicycle-motorcycle lane but the plan did not prosper. (PNA)