Partial ban of provincial buses on EDSA starts next week

PROVINCIAL BUSES will be banned along a portion of EDSA beginning Aug. 15, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) announced Thursday, August 9. “We are pushing through with the provincial bus ban starting August 15, only during rush hours,” MMDA General Manager Jose Arturo S. Garcia, Jr. said during the inspection of Valenzuela Interim Terminal. The policy will be in effect from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Monday to Friday. Violators will be fined P2,000. Under the policy, buses coming from the north shall end their route in Cubao in Quezon City while those coming from the south will stop in Pasay City. Bus companies without terminals in Pasay City can use the Southwest Interim Provincial Terminal (SWIPT). Mr. Garcia said the five-hectare terminal in Valenzuela has yet to comply with LTRFB requirements, such as the installation of waiting sheds, comfort rooms, walkways, among others. But once operational, provincial buses from the north will have to drop passengers at the terminal located along Paso de Blas Road. Metro Manila-bound passengers will have to transfer to city operating buses.