After their Windows 2.0 coding plan was shot down by Metro Manila mayors, the Metro Manila Development Authority is considering a new scheme to decongest perennially traffic-clogged EDSA: making motorists pay for its use during rush hour traffic.
The scheme is based off of the same model used by Singapore, whose congestion pricing model has been in use since the 70’s.
“I think this is something we have to look at. I’m not saying we will already do it but we have to study it,” MMDA officer in charge and general manager Tim Orbos in an interview with the Inquirer.
Instead of RFID units in vehicles, the MMDA is considering using high definition cameras set up in gantries to identify motorists using EDSA during rush hours.
When it was enacted in Singapore back in 1975, the scheme resulted in almost immediate reduction of traffic by 45 percent, and a decline in vehicle crashes by 25 percent.
“The Singapore government offered to help us. This is a government to government [project]. OK, let’s say we lack public transport but are we going to wait? This is why we have schemes whether congestion pricing, odd-even or number coding prioritizing public transport,” Orbos added.
