Motorists can now navigate Metro Manila’s major thoroughfares with their iPhone and iPad devices again, after the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA)’s updated app made it to Apple’s App Store.

The MMDA’s updated app, version 2.0.3, went live on the App Store as of Wednesday morning, Manila time.

“MMDA iOS app v2.0.3 is out. Update fixes 2012 bug. Also includes updated UVVRP FAQ (frequently asked questions on the number coding scheme) and MMDA Directory, (and) new Impoundable Violations FAQ,” MMDA traffic discipline office head Yves Gonzalez said on his Twitter account.

A description of the updated app said it allows users to:

• View the traffic situation in System, Map or Line View
• Includes EDSA, C5, SLEX, Roxas Blvd, Ortigas, Commonwealth, Marcos Highway, Katipunan, Espana, and Quezon Ave.
• Share or Report traffic info via Twitter
• View problem areas so you can avoid them
• See MMDA FAQs built-in for your guidance
• Includes MMDA Directory

The MMDA said its iOS app is the first Philippine government agency mobile application that allows one to view Metro Manila’s traffic situation in an easy to use and convenient app.

According to the App Store, the app is an 8.8-mb free download, in English and German.

It runs on Apple devices running iOS 4.0 or later.

Earlier, Gonzalez cited complaints by iPhone and iPad owners that their apps were not updating starting the New Year.

Gonzalez said they traced the problem to a bug that instructed the app to download updates only in 2011 – making it stop updating in 2012.

“2012′s 1st lesson for me: Code for all time, not just the current year. The MMDA app v2.0.2 code literally had a ’2011′ string hardcoded,” he said in a post on his Twitter account.

GMANetwork.com

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Commuters and motorists may now get real-time traffic updates from the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) with its new Internet-based traffic navigator system.

MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said the system can help motorists and public utility drivers make informed decisions on what routes to take.

“They can now avoid heavy-traffic areas, which will be a great help for us to decongest the roads,” Tolentino said in a news release posted on the MMDA website.

Initially, the system will cover:

• Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (EDSA) from Balintawak to Mall of Asia
• C-5 road (from Market!Market! to Libis flyover)
• South Luzon Expressway (from Nichols to Alabang Exit)
• Roxas Boulevard (from Coastal Road to Anda Circle)
• Quezon Avenue (from Philcoa to Mayon Street)
• España Avenue (from Welcome Rotunda to Lerma).

“We are adding Ortigas Avenue, Commonwealth Avenue, and Marcos Highway soon, and possibly the city streets, in coordination with the local government units, in the near future,” Tolentino said.

According to the MMDA, the “Navigator” can be accessed through the MMDA website www.mmda.gov.ph or through TV5′swww.interaksyon.com.

The Metro Manila Traffic Navigator project was developed through a public-private partnership between the MMDA and TV5.

Under the setup, the MMDA will have a six-member Traffic Navigator Team on duty 24/7 at the agency’s Metrobase. It will operate and maintain the digitized traffic information database.

CCTV setup

The system relies on the MMDA’s closed circuit televisions (CCTVs) to get the traffic situation in an area.

It will get support from reports sent in by traffic enforcers in the field, especially in areas where there are no surveillance cameras.

Tolentino said that the Navigator does not require Global Positioning System (GPS) for accurate data as users only need an Internet connection to access it.

He added the Traffic Navigator will be useful for the public to plan their trips accordingly and to save fuel and time.

GMA News

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The Quezon City government has plans to impose speed limits on two or more major thoroughfares to make them safer and to instill discipline among drivers.

Mayor Herbert Bautista has directed the city’s Department of Public Order and Safety (DPOS) to study recommendations to impose speed limits on Quezon Avenue and Mindanao Avenue and other major thoroughfares before the city submits these plans to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).

Earlier, the MMDA imposed a 60 kilometer per hour (kph) speed limit on Commonwealth Avenue even before a spate of vehicular accidents that left numerous victims dead, including journalist Maria Lourdes “Chit’’ Estella-Simbulan.

On Mindanao Avenue, Bautista wants to impose the same 60 kph speed limit enforced aloong Commonwealth Avenue and an even lower speed limit along the Elliptical Road.

He said the move to impose speed limits on the city’s two other major roads forms part of the city’s effort to ensure the safety of commuters and pedestrians from road accidents that usually results from speeding and reckless driving.

Bautista is also keen on implementing the city’s own traffic management plan that will include the continuous conduct of seminars for drivers of public utility vehicles plying major Quezon City routes.

Meanwhile, Bautista requested liquor licensing and regulatory board chairman Alberto Galarpe to provide him with a copy of the ordinance on the selling and serving of liquors and its implementing rules and regulations to determine whether driving under the influence of liquor deserves stricter measures considering the rise of vehicular accidents in the city.

The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) and the department of public order and safety will routinely provide the mayor with statistics on the information regarding vehicular accidents in the city.

Manila Bulletin Online

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Following a series of deadly accidents there this month, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority has deployed added traffic enforcement teams along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.

In a radio interview Wednesday, MMDA spokesperson Tina Velasco said the added personnel are to be at their posts 24 hours a day, even as she said they had apprehended 74 violators since Monday.

Also, the MMDA is coordinating with the Department of Public Works and Highways to make Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City safer for motorists, commuters and pedestrians.

DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson said he has discussed with MMDA chairman Francis Tolentino the possible use of better-designed delineators.

The 12.4-km Commonwealth Avenue has been dubbed “killer highway” due to the high number of vehicular accidents there.

Last May 13, journalist-professor Lourdes “Chit” Estella-Simbulan was killed after a bus rammed her taxi from behind. The driver, Daniel Espinosa, remains at large.

Before dawn Wednesday, an 11-year-old boy was killed after a pickup ran over him while he was crossing the road along Commonwealth Avenue.

On the other hand, the “killer highway” claimed four more lives Tuesday night after four suspected bus robbers were shot dead in an encounter with police there.

‘Emergency meeting’

Meanwhile, the MMDA said it was to meet with bus firms and the Department of Labor and Employment within the day to discuss a salary scheme for bus drivers.

On Tuesday, Tolentino had hinted at pushing a regular salary for bus drivers so they need not race each other just to get more passengers.

“We’re talking about more strategic measures this morning but coming from the incident last Friday … We’re taking stock of what happened,” Velasco said.

She also said the MMDA will be open to all options. “We’re opening our doors to all dialogue,” she said.

GMA News

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The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) advised motorists to take alternate routes as repair work on the Buendia-Osmeña Flyover in Makati City begins at 9:00 p.m. on Friday.

In its advisory, the MMDA said the northbound lane of Osmeña highway (crossing Buendia Flyover) will be partially closed because the Department of Public Works and Highways is set to conduct repair works.

According to the MMDA, the public may take the following alternate routes to avoid inconvenience:

Northbound:

• From South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), turn left to EDSA, right to Roxas Blvd., to destination.
• From SLEX, turn right to EDSA, left to Ayala Avenue, left to Metropolitan Avenue, left to Vito Cruz, to destination.

Southbound:

• From Port Area or Roxas Blvd., turn left to EDSA, to destination.
• From South Superhighway, turn right to Estrada St., left to Alejo Aquino/Filmore/Dian, left to Faraday/Honduras/Rockefeller, to destination.
• From South Superhighway, turn right to Vito Cruz, left to Alejo Aquino/Filmore/Dian, left to Faraday/Honduras/Rockefeller, to destination.
• From South Superhighway, turn right to Arellano/Casino, left to Alejo Aquino/Filmore/Dian, left to Faraday/Honduras/Rockefeller, to destination.

For its part, the DPWH said the southbound lane of the flyover shall be opened to two-way traffic.

Motorists can also use the at-grade road section along Osmena superhighway, the DPWH said.

The DPWH advised motorists to take other routes such as EDSA (from Roxas Boulevard to Magallanes Interchange) and Roxas Boulevard (from P. Burgos St./Luneta to EDSA).

Earlier, the MMDA said it has approved a proposed repair and rehabilitation plan for the Osmeña Flyover in Makati City that may take three to four months.

The MMDA said the project duration is 120 calendar days, but the DPWH and the contractor said they will try to finish it by 90 calendar days.

According to MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino, the project will congest traffic but will bring good it can bring in the long run.

“The public needs to understand that the structure badly needs repair because it was built and used for almost 30 years now, and definitely, it is no longer safe as it was before. To delay its repair poses greater damage, especially during earthquakes,” he said.

Also, the MMDA will continue to deploy the usual number of enforcers assigned to the area.

“We will deploy additional traffic enforcers if and only when needed,” Tolentino said.

Safer infrastructure

DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson said the P46.67-million flyover project is in compliance with President Benigno Simeon Aquino III’s goal of sustaining economic growth by providing safer basic infrastructure.

Singson also said the contractor, Tokwing Construction, was given four months to finish the flyovers’ structural safety works.

“Upon its completion, further damage to the bridge will be prevented providing more quality and safer structure especially during earthquakes,” the DPWH said.

The project covers epoxy injection of cracks, repair of bridge deck superstructure by epoxy grouting of spalled concrete, and fiber reinforcement polymer (FRP) along with the reconstruction of railings, construction of median barriers and installation of electrical bridge lightings.

Other flyover repair works also included are scraping or scarifying and removal of the existing asphalt pavement of the flyover, re-paving of the bridge deck with asphalt and replacement of the base and sub-base materials for the approaches.

GMANews.TV

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The Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program (UVVRP) will be lifted on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said yesterday.

The number coding scheme will resume on April 25.

MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said the four-day suspension of UVVRP will provide motorists an unhampered mobility while going to and from the provinces during the Lenten season.

Tolentino also advised the public to avoid EDSA and instead use the alternate or “Mabuhay” lanes which start at both north and south entry points of EDSA. Motorists may use MacArthur Highway, right turn to Samson Road, C-4/Letre, R-10, A. Bonifacio, Roxas Boulevard to their destination.

At the other end of EDSA, the Mabuhay lanes start at Coastal Road and South Luzon Expressway.

The MMDA will also deploy some 1,000 traffic enforcers at transport terminals and traffic choke points for the Holy Week. The public can also call Metrobase Hotline 136 for periodic traffic updates and requests for assistance.

The MMDA’s Facebook and Twitter account will be also open 24/7 during the Holy Week to accept and respond to inquiries.

Journal Online

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Public utility vehicles operators, school and tourist buses, and even cargo trucks plying routes inside the National Capital Region will have to follow a color scheme starting July, according to the Metro Manila Development Authority.

Corazon Jimenez, MMDA general manager, said Chairman Francis Tolentino had issued Memorandum Circular 5 to strengthen MMDA Resolution 11-02 Series of 2011 to enforce tagging for easy identification.

License plate numbers must be painted on the roof, front, back, and two sides of vehicles using a specific color code.

“Vehicles that do not comply would be considered ‘colorum’ or out-of-line,” Jimenez said.

For city buses plying the 24-kilometer Edsa, operators must make use of yellow; non-Edsa city buses use orange.

MMDA has assigned red to provincial buses passing through Edsa along with violet for those using other routes.

Passenger jeepneys will be in brown; metered taxis, blue; so-called FX taxis, green.

Instead of the familiar yellow, school service vehicles will be in gray or silver.

Pink is reserved for tourist or shuttle buses with gold for cargo trucks.

As planned, the color scheme will be enforced also on secondary roads.

“With the implementation of the vehicle tagging scheme, it will be easier for us to spot traffic violators and those involved in accidents and criminal cases through our closed-circuit television cameras,” Tolentino said.

He said the no-physical contact policy in apprehending errant motorists would be made easier because the agency’s 68 cameras could get better images of the vehicle licence numbers.

Jimenez said color coding should not be taken lightly.

“We would recommend to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board the suspension or cancellation of franchises,” she said, noting that penalties also applied under present resolutions passed by the Metro Manila Council, the MMDA’s policy-making body.

Manila Standard Today

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Expecting vehicle traffic to get heavier near commercial districts as the Christmas shopping season peaks, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and mall administrators are working out ways to deal with the problem.

MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino met officials of Ortigas Center and Ayala Center this week to coordinate measures to ease traffic congestion especially along Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (EDSA).

“Traffic is everybody’s concern. We should look at it holistically rather than limiting our concerns to within one area of jurisdiction only,” Tolentino told officials of the Ortigas Center Association, Inc. (OCAI) and Ayala Properties during a meeting at the MMDA office in Makati City.

Tolentino particularly appealed to SM Megamall to inform the MMDA at least two weeks before holding shopping sale promos that attract a huge number of shoppers.

Traffic in the Makati and Ortigas area

Tolentino said the Makati and Pasig commercial districts, particularly Ortigas, are significant components of the traffic situation in EDSA.

Tolentino thus met with officials malls, the Makati Parking Authority (MAPA) and the Pasig City government.

Tolentino urged OCAI and Ayala Properties, and also the representatives of SM Megamall and Robinson’s Galleria, to work closely with the MMDA in managing traffic along the 28-kilometer stretch of EDSA.

The SM Megamall is the largest mall located in the Ortigas Center area along EDSA.

“Our experience is that during any sale, traffic leading to and from SM Megamall along Edsa is terrible. We should be notified beforehand so we could plan and make contingencies,” Tolentino said in an article posted on the MMDA website.

Tolentino also discussed with the Ayala and MAPA representatives the traffic bottleneck at the EDSA-Ayala Avenue intersection.

He said traffic lights along the stretch of Ayala should be synchronized to allow a faster flow of traffic into the Makati Central Business District during morning rush hour.

MMDA Traffic Engineering Center statistics show that 1,896 vehicles enter Ayala Avenue from EDSA southbound every hour during the morning rush while 1,309 come from Magallanes.

Tolentino also discussed with OCAI a plan to carve out a loading and unloading point at Onyx Avenue to accommodate AUVs that unload passengers along Meralco Avenue near the foot of the Meralco flyover.

He tasked newly appointed MMDA Undersecretary Alex Cabanilla to oversee the strict implementation of these measures and other measures discussed during the meeting.

“This is only the start of the things that we will be doing for the next few months to relieve EDSA of traffic congestion,” he said.

VVP, GMANews.TV

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The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) stood pat on its decision to impose a number-coding scheme for public utility buses on Monday as it apologized for the inconvenience caused by a strike staged by bus operators.

MMDA spokeswoman Tina Velasco said Monday that despite the strike, the number-coding scheme puts them on the right track to decongest Metro Manila’s main roads.

“Ipagpasensya ng publiko sa nangyayari ngayon, we are just starting to implement this (pero) hindi namin ititigil ito,” she said in an interview on dzBB radio.

(We apologize to the public for the inconvenience. We are just starting to implement this scheme. But the strike will not make us stop implementing it)

Velasco said they are studying the filing of charges against the bus operators behind the strike, for possible economic sabotage.

“We are reviewing all of these. We are just here to implement the law but with regard to compassion and public safety,” she said.

The number-coding scheme, officially named the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program (UVVRP), is a traffic management program of the MMDA aimed to reduce the amount of vehicular traffic in Metro Manila.

Vehicles whose plate numbers end in a particular number are barred from using the main streets of Metro Manila on particular days.

Vehicles whose plate numbers end in 1 or 2, for instance, cannot travel through Metro Manila’s main streets on Mondays.Sanctions vs bus operators

Meanwhile, MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said their agency is coordinating with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) about possibly imposing sanctions against the bus operators involved in Monday’s strike.

Tolentino also insisted there are enough vehicles from the MMDA and Armed Forces of the Philippines to accommodate commuters affected by the strike.

Meanwhile, she said they are trying to cope with the inconvenience caused by the sudden bus strike.

She said the MMDA is now tracking its traffic enforcer teams, many of which were reported absent in key Metro Manila roads.

Velasco said MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino proceeded to check the situation along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.

“We (are supposed to) have 15 MMDA enforcers at every point especially Commonwealth. We will make sure we have people there,” she said.

Cops deployed to protect buses

Meanwhile, teams composed of police and MMDA personnel were deployed to protect passenger buses that did not take part in the strike.

Radio dzBB’s Allan Gatus reported the teams, deployed by the Quezon City police, include two MMDA and police personnel each.

Superintendent Alex Sintin of the Quezon City police said the teams will protect bus drivers and passengers from those taking part in the strike.

He said the police component of the teams will come from the Metro Manila police’s regional public safety battalion.

GMANews.TV

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The Metro Manila Development Authority today hoped that the Department of Public Works and Highways would heed the request of the agency to build an elevated U-turn along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.

MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando said an elevated U-turn in the major thoroughfare would further ease the traffic in the area especially during rush hours.

“It’s most appropriate there because of the wide lanes,” Fernando said during a radio program this morning.

He said building elevated U-turns in some major thoroughfares in the metropolis would also greatly help the traffic in these areas.

Fernando cited that such structures will be appropriate in selected areas of Quezon Avenue.

As this developed, Fernando said the elevated U-turn along Kalayaan Avenue in Makati City will be open to traffic on April 15.

By Dennis Carcamo, Philippine Star

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