Bus operations on the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) may be temporarily suspended in case of sufficient capacity for passengers on the Metro Rail Transit (MRT-3), announced the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA). MMDA Chairman Romando Artes stated at a press briefing on February 5 that a new train is set to be launched to increase MRT's passenger capacity by 30%. Artes pointed out that the goal of MRT and the EDSA bus operations is identical and their intended purpose is the same. "If passengers can use the train, we see no need to maintain buses, because the routes are actually identical. In fact, the train is even more advantageous as it has more stops than buses on a carousel route," he noted.
MMDA is also discussing the possibility of freeing up the current bus lane on EDSA for the use of high-capacity transport. "The Department of Transportation has a plan to create dedicated transfer points between different vehicle systems, such as MRT, connected to LRT 1 or north to LRT-1," Artes pointed out. However, he stressed that the proposal will not be implemented if the issue of increasing the passenger capacity of the trains is not resolved. "As long as MRT cannot accommodate all passengers from the bus carousel, these buses will continue to operate," he said.
Earlier this week, Transport Secretary Jaime Bautista announced that the timelines for privatizing the bus operations on EDSA will be determined by 2026. A special bus lane was launched in 2020 to address travel problems during the pandemic, while a fare collection system was implemented in 2023. Bus services run from Monumento in Caloocan to the ParaĊaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX).
