MMDA to start expanding number coding

Starting on Monday, August 15, the expanded number coding scheme will be in effect in preparation for the full face-to-face classes in November, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) announced on Thursday.

Numbering will now run from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m, Dimayuga told reporters after Metro Manila Council’s first meeting, where one mayor approved the measure.

Thus, vehicles with plate numbers ending in 1 and 2 will be prohibited from using public roads on Mondays; 3 and 4 on Tuesdays; 5 and 6 on Wednesdays; 7 and 8 on Thursdays; and 9 and 0 on Fridays.

MMDA will not yet apprehend number coding scheme violators from August 15-17, according to Dimayuga.

“We will not conduct arrests yet. We will just remind them,” Dimayuga said in Filipino. “But on the 18th, [the arrests] will begin. We will start to hand out tickets.”

Tricycles, transport network vehicles, garbage trucks, fuel trucks, fire trucks, ambulances, marked media vehicles, marked government vehicles, and motor vehicles carrying essential and/or perishable goods are exempt from the coding scheme, Dimayuga explained.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, the MMDA has been implementing the number coding scheme in Metro Manila to lessen the volume of vehicles on major streets, including the almost 24-kilometer stretch of Edsa, the capital’s main thoroughfare.

However, due to the lockdowns and limited work operations in cities, the MMDA revised its policy by enforcing the number coding scheme only during rush hours, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.