After adjusting the work hours of local government units in Metro Manila to run from 7am to 4pm on weekdays, the Metro Manila Council (MMC) is now studying a proposal to shift the operating hours of malls in the capital region to a later time.
According to MMC president Mayor Francis Zamora of San Juan City, the proposed mall operating schedule is from 11am to 11pm or from 10am to 11pm. This follows the hours usually implemented during Christmas holidays.
The later mall hours could help alleviate traffic congestion in Metro Manila, Zamora said: “Yung mall hours na hindi lang dapat talaga sila sumasabay sa rush hour—kumbaga maging standard operating hours ng malls—imumungkahi ko ho yan pag nag-usap ulit kami ng aming Metro Manila Council.”
OTHER STORIES YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED:
DPWH: Magallanes Flyover rehabilitation begins next week
A portion of Roxas Boulevard will now be car-free every Sunday
What the proposal seems to assume, however, is that mallgoers and employees are private transport owners and can travel around the metro at any given time. Trains in Metro Manila don’t run 24/7, and while other modes of transport operate round the clock, there are fewer public utility vehicles on the road during off-peak hours. Road repairs are also typically scheduled during this time, so a moratorium on certain types of roadwork is imposed during Christmas holidays.
Also, based on the 2023 TomTom Traffic Index, the average time to travel 10km in Metro Manila is still more than 20 minutes around 10pm, improving marginally at 11pm. Traffic flows fastest from 12am to 4am.
We should be getting more updates on the proposed mall hours adjustment in the coming days, but do sound off: Do you think implementing this would improve Metro Manila traffic?
