Three additional key roads in Metro Manila have been placed by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) under its one-truck-lane policy as part of efforts to ease congestion and ensure smooth implementation of the online truck booking system being adopted by Manila terminal operators.
Under Memorandum Circular (MC) No. 01-2016 that took effect on February 1, MMDA’s Special Traffic Committee (STC) expanded the one-truck-lane policy to include Congressional Road, Mindanao Avenue, and Road 10 (R10). The policy was first imposed in 2014 on Circumferential Road 5 (C5) and Katipunan Avenue.
MMDA said the STC decided to enlarge the coverage of the policy “to respond to the traffic congestion in the Metropolis.” MC 01-2016 also serves as the implementing guidelines for the Metro Manila Council-STC’s Resolution No. 02-2016, which exempts trucks using the Terminal Appointment Booking System (TABS) from the truck ban.
TABS is an electronic platform for booking containers at Manila South Harbor and Manila International Container Terminal (MICT), specifically developed to minimize road traffic and prevent container build-ups.
Exemption from the truck ban was one of the requests by port operators to ensure smooth implementation of TABS, which spreads out the time trucks may enter and exit from Manila’s two international terminals avoiding port congestion.
The new MMDA circular covers cargo trucks and heavy vehicles with a gross capacity weight of more than 4,500 kilograms.
All trucks along C5, Katipunan Ave., Congressional Road, Mindanao Ave., and R10 “shall only use the third lane from the sidewalk and shall strictly observe the one-lane policy,” says the circular.
Trucks covered by MC 01-2016 are also prohibited from parking on any point along these roads.
Moreover, “exemptions from the truck ban regulation, for valid and legal causes, shall be issued only MMDA.”
Trucks that fail to comply with the one-lane policy will be apprehended and fined P2,000 “corresponding to the violation of truck ban regulation.” MMDA will also recommend cancellation of the offending trucker’s franchise or vehicle registration, or both, with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board and Land Transportation Office. – Roumina Pablo
Image courtesy of Naypong at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
