Manila: No contact system helping reduce violations

Manila's new program supposedly making motorists become better

Remember when the City of Manila launched its new no-contact apprehension (NCAP) system back in December 2020? Eight months since operations began, the city government says it has helped reduce the number of monthly traffic violations in Manila.

Manila Traffic and Parking Bureau (MTPB) Chief Wilson Chan says there has been a decrease of 25 to 31% in traffic violation citations for the 1st half of the year on a month-to-month basis.

“This only shows that our NCAP traffic enforcement system is indeed working and is a major help to the city in terms of managing the traffic,” said Chan.

To further supervise traffic in Manila, the MTPB installed 27 new cameras along major thoroughfares in the city. With more CCTV cameras monitoring traffic, the MTPB believes that it will also help lessen the face-to-face interaction between traffic enforcers and motorists during the pandemic.

On record, the top 3 major violations committed by motorists caught by the NCAP system are disobedience to traffic controls/signals, disregarding lane markings, and reckless driving. The road that has the most number of traffic violations goes to Taft Avenue.

“Sa NCAP natututo ang driver at dahil may penalty, hindi na sila umuulit. Umaayos ang daloy ng trapiko at natututo ang mga motoristang sumunod sa batas-trapiko miski walang traffic enforcer doon. Masaya kami sa data na nagpapakita na may improvement sa sistema sa kalsada, unti-unti ay naisasaayos na din,” added Chan.

[At NCAP the driver learns and because there is a penalty, they don’t repeat their offenses. Traffic flow improves and motorists learn to obey traffic laws even though there is no traffic enforcer there. We are happy with the data showing that there is improvement in the road system, it is gradually being adjusted as well]

As a reminder, the NCAP system works by taking pictures of an erring motorist's license plate. Once the tags are in the database, the MTPB processes the information sourced from the LTO and will send a Notice of Violation (NOV) two weeks after the date of the alleged violation via registered mail. These must then be settled at the MTPB main office or designated banks and remittance centers. Failure to pay the fine means the violator will not be able to renew their registration, on top of additional fines/penalties.

You can also check if you have a pending Notice of Violation with Manila City through their online portal with this link https://nocontact.manilacity.ph/plate.

Want to avoid being sent an NOV? Be a better and law-abiding driver.