MMDA puts up another enhanced bus-dispatch terminal

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority has opened another Bus Management and Dispatch System terminal located at the Coastal Mall in Parañaque City.

This is the fourth terminal of the MMDA to be equipped with the system, with the first one being opened by the agency in Fairview, Quezon City, in February. Two more terminals followed in Malabon and Alabang along with 10 satellite stations all over Metro Manila.

The enhanced bus-dispatch system regulates the number of public-utility buses on EDSA by requiring the drivers to have their fingerprints scanned before they are allowed to ply their routes. The driver\'s identity is then checked against a databank that checks what bus company he\'s employed with and if he has unsettled traffic violations.

\"The system also aims to ensure the safety of commuters as only drivers with less than three pending traffic violations will be dispatched from the terminal,\" said MMDA chairman Francis Tolentino. \"Those with more than three should settle their traffic violation tickets first before being allowed to ply their routes.\"

According to Tolentino, the system ensures that no colorum or out-of-line bus units will ply EDSA since the system verifies the license plates of buses from the database of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board.

From 3,471 city buses on the first day the system was implemented, a total of 5,862 are now registered in the database which is also linked with other agencies such as the Land Transportation Office, LTFRB, and the National Bureau of Investigation.

Photo from SXC.hu