EDSA Busway stations are now fitted with timers

Hopefully, no more long waiting periods

For EDSA Busway commuters, here's a bit of good news. It's something that's designed to make your daily commute faster, and more efficient.

The Department of Transportation (DOTr)'s Road Sector, together with the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has finished installing bus timers in 13 EDSA busway stations. Basically, this now limits the maximum time allowed for buses to load and unload passengers.

The bus timers fitted in the stations consist of signal lanterns that come with a two-digit timer, pole, and lighting system. In addition, there's also a local traffic signal controller that utilizes a detector card and loop detectors to trigger the system whenever a bus arrives.

Once the bus stops at the station, the 30-second timer automatically starts to allow commuters enough time to either board or get off the bus. For now, the system is calibrated with a 30-second window. However, depending on the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Council for traffic (i-ACT) and the MMDA, the intervals can be made longer or shorter.

Ideally, this should remove the common practice of extended “tambay” time of buses in certain stations to fill the bus with passengers, and also minimize the waiting period of commuters at the next station.

With the Christmas rush looming over the horizon, hopefully, the new system will make riding the EDSA Busway less of a hassle for commuters. Would you agree? Let us know in the comments.