KNOWN FOR HIS gallant exploits as a police officer, newly-minted Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) General Manager Nicolas Torre III suddenly found himself in an environment where his courage and skills don’t seem enough.
This comes as the Department of Transportation (DOTr) rejected Torre’s proposal to open the EDSA busway to other high-occupancy vehicles to address traffic congestion along EDSA.
Torre made the suggestion after Metro Manila ranked 14th among the worst in the world in the 2025 TomTom Traffic Index.
“One of the things we are thinking of doing — but this is not yet approved — is putting on the drawing table the idea of allowing high-occupancy vehicles with 10 or more people to use the busway,” Torre was quoted in an interview on One News.
NOT TORRE’S IDEA
According to Torre, such an idea could encourage Filipinos to seriously consider the idea of adopting carpooling to ease congestion.
Interestingly, Torre doesn’t seem aware that his proposal has already been floated by MMDA chairman Don Artes who made a similar representation to the DOTr amid plans to to turn the busway into a high-occupancy vehicle lane for cars with three to four passengers.
The MMDA chief also hinted at requiring motorists driving tinted cars to roll down windows to allow AI-powered cameras to count passengers.
OUTRIGHT REJECTION
DOTr, which had previously turned down the MMDA chief’s request, maintained its position over Torre’s suggestion — the EDSA busway is only for buses.
“The busway was designed primarily to move more people — not more cars — by providing fast and uninterrupted service to buses carrying up to 300,000 passengers daily,” reads part of the DOTr statement.
“Any move to open this lane to private vehicles, even under the guise of carpooling, will inevitably slow down bus operations and defeat the very purpose for which the busway was created,” DOTr Secretary Giovanni Lopez said.
PRESIDENT’S DIRECTIVE
In outrightly rejecting Torre’s proposal, the DITr cited President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s direction — that “government transport policy must be commuter-focused and pro-mass transit, not car-centric.”
“Kaisa namin ang mga commuters sa pagpapatotoo na mabisang programa ang EDSA Busway para sa mas nakararami. Sapat na dahilan ito para manatiling eksklusibo ang EDSA Busway para lamang sa mga bus at mga komyuter,” Lopez averred.
Early last year, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla joined MMDA’s call to scrap the EDSA bus carousel. The DOTr disagreed.
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