Route rationalization eyed vs. EDSA traffic

The chairman of the House Committee on Transportation on Tuesday said his panel will study the feasibility of implementing route rationalization on buses plying EDSA to address the traffic problem.

"Pag-aaralan ito. Siyempre on a peak time, from 5 to 9, iba ang headway natin niyan. Pag medyo wala nang tao siyempre ire-reduce natin. We call this now route rationalization, pag-aaralan talaga natin," said Samar Representative Edgar Sarmiento in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV.

Sarmiento likened the system to a "carousel" where buses will arrive on designated stops on time, thus removing the need to overtake and — when coupled with a synchronized dispatch system the committee is also studying — would make bus-riding more convenient to commuters.

"We will have order. Mai-encourage ang tao na sasakay na sa bus, kasi alam nila na may tinatawag na tayo na predictability. Pag sinabing may bus 10:10, may bus ng 10:10," he said.

A civil engineer by profession, Sarmiento said the efficiency of the public transport system must be looked into first as the thrust of their study would be "volume reduction."

"Dapat sa buses efficient siya. May headway, ang tao na lang ang sasakay, kikilos at kikilos yan. Systematic, well-monitored. Pag sinabing dadating ka sa bus stop ng ganito, one minute nandun ka na," he said.

"Ipu-pull po natin ang resources ng buses kasi pag nag-agaw-agaw yang mga yan lugi sila."

Sarmiento has been instructed by Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano to come up with one-year roadmap to solve the traffic problem.

"Hindi na tayo puwedeng magdagdag ng bus pa sa  EDSA. Itong plano natin, we just have to pull the resources of the buses on EDSA, come up with a synchronized dispatch system," he said. —KBK, GMA News