Motoring Today Column

Jul 11, 2018

Traffic management experts have consistently mentioned several reasons for the metro's traffic woes.

The most mentioned are the lack of a reliable mass transport infrastructure coupled with the absence of a well-planned integrated transportation system.

Also mentioned is the presence of an obsolete road network and of small main thoroughfares compared to the metro's ever-increasing population of citizens and denizens which, for a developing economy normally comes with an almost equally increasing number of vehicles.

The problem of an obsolete road network is being addressed by a network of skyways establishing vital links that would lessen traffic volume in EDSA while the absence of a well-planned integrated transportation system is also being worked out though seemingly with less success.

Now the myopic view of blaming the sale of too many cars in the country as the culprit in having our present traffic woes has also been addressed possibly by those who came out with the drunken idea themselves, I guess when they woke up one morning sans a hangover.

I suppose they realized that it's not the unprecedented success of our auto industry that's to be blamed. It is not the successful sales of vehicles, which is the cause per se but the presence of many of these vehicles where they should not be.

And the MMDA, in its continuing efforts to find a solution, no matter if it's stop gap, to our miserable day to day existence trapped within the confines of the vehicle transporting us while stuck in traffic gridlocks, may have nailed one-lessen the volume of traffic in EDSA by banning vehicles that shouldn't be there-like provincial buses.

Many observers are now saying that the MMDA's move not to allow provincial buses to enter EDSA during rush hours has been long time coming. The ban will cover northbound and southbound provincial buses from traversing EDSA from Pasay City to Cubao, Quezon City from 7am to 10am and from 6pm to 9pm.

And we will have to also thank the provincial bus operators for their cooperation in seeing this through with a dry run scheduled starting July 24 with a quid quo pro of exempting provincial buses passing EDSA from the United Vehicular Volume Reduction Program or what's commonly known as "number coding".

The traffic scheme is seen to speed up travel of private motorists along EDSA and of passenger buses using the yellow lane during peak hours.

The regulation will be effective until the three bus terminals being constructed are operational. These are the bus terminals in Valenzuela set to be operational in August, the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange set to open in September and the bus terminal in Sta. Rosa, Laguna scheduled for operation in December.

Way to go, guys.

No, it's not about motorists having too much in their plates but it's more about motorists having too much about these vehicle registration plates.

Well, at last the long wait is over. Vehicle owners will finally have their registration plates but not really a time to pop open those Champaign bottles.

Although as many as 230,000 plates have been released, there are still…(fanfare)….8 million more plates to go.

Now, don't go rushing to your LTO District Office just right away. Instead wait for your notification.

LTO chief Edgar Galvante clarified that vehicles registered before July 1. 2016, specifically 2013 to June 2016 will not receive their plates yet, as these plates are under a different contract and supplier, which is still not being allowed by the COA to proceed.

The plates that are being released were those that were produced from the LTO plate-making facility in Quezon City.

Whatever! It's a good start.

Thinking of buying a new car? Come November 15 to 18, the 2018 Auto Focus Pre-Christmas Multi Brand Test Drive Festival will once again be staged at the SM Mall of Asia Concert Grounds' Block 12, the original location of the event and of equal importance is that the event will be back to its original 4-day staging.

A total of eleven (11) exhibitors have confirmed to participate in this year's multi brand test fest, namely: Chevrolet, Ford, Honda, Isuzu, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, SsangYong, Subaru, Suzuki and Toyota. We could still possibly accommodate one more but then we would have to give up some of our own space just for us not to say we can't.

Most of the brands have expressed the welcome possibility of having special offers like fantastic discounts, freebies, etc. that'll be exclusive to the event.

Newly launched models are expected to be for the public to see up close and test drive freely, like the Rush and the all-newVios from Toyota, the all-newDzire and Swift fromSuzuki, the all-new Terra from Nissan , the CX9 Sport Touring from Mazda and a host of other new remarkable models from the country's leading brands, which we shall update you about in our future columns.

The Auto Focus Multi-Brand Test Drive Festival is a very convenient one-stop shop where you can find the country's top brands waiting for you to closely check out their models. It also offers an on-site test drive course within the confines of the area in and out of SM Mall of Asia.

Remember the long established mantra, "Don't buy it, till you test drive it".

Happy Motoring!!!

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