A modified truck ban was implemented in major Metro Manila thoroughfares starting Dec 7 and will run until Jan 6, 2013 to ease the expected heavy traffic during the holiday season.
The Metro Manila Council (MMC) special traffic committee approved the scheme which extends by two hours the current ban, from 6:00 am to 10:00 am and from 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm on weekdays. Under the present system, trucks are banned from major thoroughfares in Metro Manila from 6 am to 9 am and from 5 pm until 9 pm on weekdays.
A total truck ban will continue to apply along EDSA from Magallanes in Makati City to Balintawak in Quezon City.
The ban will cover trucks above 4,500 kilos but exempts those carrying perishable and agricultural products as provided under MMDA Resolution No. 0705, Series of 2007, or the Truck Ban Ordinance.
Earlier, a daytime truck ban was proposed, opposed strongly by truckers’ and exporters’ groups which said this will result in delivery delays and higher prices of basic commodities.
“We will be working out permanent truck ban hours next year in cooperation with various trucking companies. We just want to assure truckers that this modified truck ban is not meant to deliberately hurt the trucking industry,” Francis Tolentino, chairman of the Metro Manila Development Authority, the implementing arm of MMC, in a statement said.
Image courtesy of Bill Longshaw/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net
