Heads Up: EDSA Provincial Bus Ban Scheduled to Begin Next Week

(SPOT.ph) After months of preparations, promises, and a lot of obstacles, it looks like the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority is finally set to implement the highly contested EDSA bus ban soon. A circular issued by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board amending provincial bus routes to end at interim terminals will be taking effect on August 2—and a trial run of the ban will follow after.

"Ang tentative po natin is either August 6 or 7, either Tuesday or Wednesday 'yan," said Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) General Manager Jojo Garcia in a report by Inquirer. The agency is waiting for Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Memorandum Circular 2019-031 to take effect on August 2, he added, before they start the trial. 

The memorandum stops provincial buses from entering the Metro by cutting their routes at interim terminals in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, for trips from the south, and in Valenzuela City, for trips from the north. Routes of city buses have also been extended to the interim terminals—meaning that people coming from or leaving Metro Manila will soon be taking two rides.

Now that the LTFRB has amended bus routes, the MMDA is looking into asking the local government to help with part two of the EDSA bus ban: the closure of 47 bus terminals along the main thoroughfare. "Hopefully by August 5, we will write the concerned [local government units in] Quezon City and Pasay, requesting to cancel all business permits," added Garcia.