The days of number-coding vehicles being able to freely travel around Metro Manila (except Makati) during morning rush hour traffic are officially over. This comes after the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) announced the reimplementation of the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program (UVVRP) during the morning rush hour starting August 15, 2022.

This means that aside from having a number-coding scheme between 5:00 to 8:00 PM, the MMDA will also be imposing the said policy from 7:00 AM to 10:00 AM every Monday to Friday (except holidays). As before, vehicles with license plates ending in 1 and 2 are prohibited on Monday, 3 and 4 on Tuesday, 5 and 6 on Wednesday, 7 and 8 on Thursday, and 9 and 0 on Friday during the said coding hours.

The decision to bring back the morning number-coding scheme came after the Metro Manila Council (MMC), composed of the Metro Manila mayors, approved in a meeting MMDA Resolution No. 22-14 Series of 2022, amid the expected increase in the volume of vehicles in NCR upon the resumption of face-to-face classes on August 22, 2022.

Based on the latest vehicle volume count conducted by the MMDA Traffic Engineering Center last August 4, 2022, an estimated 387,000 vehicles traversed EDSA. This volume is expected to go up to 435,000 or higher than pre-pandemic levels. With the return of the number-coding scheme in the morning, the MMDA said that this will help reduce traffic volume in Metro Manila by 20% during the morning and afternoon/evening peak hours.

But the MMDA will not immediately start apprehending or issuing citations to would-be violators on August 15, 2022. Instead, from Aug 15 to 17, they will only hold a dry-run to remind motorists of the expanded UVVRP.

“From August 15 to 17, we will start the dry run and will only remind motorists of the expanded number-coding scheme. From August 18 onwards, the MMDA will start apprehending and will issue traffic violation tickets on ground and through our non-contact apprehension policy,” said newly-appointed MMDA Acting Chairman Engineer Carlo Dimayuga III.

Exempted from the expanded number coding scheme are public utility vehicles (PUVs) like tricycles, transport network vehicle services (TNVS), motorcycles, garbage trucks, fuel trucks, marked government vehicles, fire trucks, ambulances, marked media vehicles, and motor vehicles carrying essential and/or perishable goods.

With the expanded number coding scheme set to come into effect once more, we wish to remind motorists to double-check their coding days before heading out to avoid being caught by the MMDA or LGUs.

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