00:00 In the absence of a state of public health emergency in the country,
00:04 a group requested to return the old system of bus travel to EDSA.
00:09 It was led by the MMDA and groups of cyclists led by Joseph Moro.
00:14 This is how it was in EDSA before the pandemic.
00:20 More than 3,000 buses were passing by back then.
00:22 In 2020, due to the pandemic, only one route was allowed for the metro buses.
00:29 Only 550 buses were allowed in the EDSA bus carousel.
00:34 Others were moved by the route.
00:36 But now, the bus operators want to get these two last lanes here in EDSA,
00:43 including the bike lane, and also to break up the EDSA bus carousel.
00:48 In their consultation with LTFRB, they came to the conclusion that they were at a loss with the other routes they were moving.
00:55 The state of public health emergency was also removed, so the original routes of the EDSA bus carousel should be returned.
01:02 That is our lane.
01:04 We lost it because of the pandemic.
01:08 Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said before that the EDSA bus carousel will not be removed.
01:14 It will be privatized.
01:16 According to the bus operators, they cannot use the carousel.
01:21 We will be a train that does not move.
01:25 Because it is only 27 kilometers.
01:29 If you close the bus, it is 12 meters.
01:32 It is dead. We are already close.
01:34 In their prediction, they will have a red and blue bus that has bus stops.
01:40 They also want to return the 14 bus stops in the adjacent EDSA bus carousel.
01:45 Our commitment is we will police our own ranks.
01:49 According to the Metro Manila Development Authority or MMDA in Panucala,
01:54 currently, more than 400,000 cars are in EDSA every day,
01:59 running between 21 to 24 kilometers per hour, which is faster than before the pandemic.
02:06 14 bus stops, I definitely will oppose it if that is the proposal.
02:11 They also said that there are only two lanes left for private vehicles.
02:16 We did lane dieting, meaning we reduced the size of each lane to accommodate the bike lanes.
02:25 EDSA will be closed and it will create traffic definitely.
02:31 The group of cyclists also agreed.
02:34 Many are now relying on bike lanes because more are used to alternative transportation methods,
02:41 like motorcycles and bikes.
02:43 According to the results of 2021, 7 out of 10 are using alternative modes of transport,
02:55 meaning bikes, e-bikes, compared to private cars, including public transport.
03:02 For GMA Integrated News, Joseph Morong, for 24 Hours.
03:08 Kapuso, kasama niyo kami, 24 horas.
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03:15 Sa mga kapuso abroad, visitahin ang GMA Pinoy TV at www.gmanews.tv.
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