Number coding in the Philippines: Difference between revisions

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{{short description|Road space rationing strategy in the Philippines}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=JuneMay 20202025}}

{{Use Philippine English|date=December 2022}}

{{refimprove|date=July 2024}}

[[File:Philippine Hybrid or Electric vehicle plate.png|thumb|Sample plate for private [[Electric vehicle|electric]] and [[hybrid vehicle]]s, which are exempt from number coding restrictions<ref>{{Cite news |last=Acosta |first=Persida |date=December 30, 2023 |title=Electric vehicles exempted from number coding scheme |url=https://www.manilatimes.net/2023/12/30/legal-advice/electric-vehicles-exempted-from-number-coding-scheme/1926105 |url-access=limited |access-date=May 5, 2025 |work=[[The Manila Times]]}}</ref>]]

The '''Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program''' ('''UVVRP'''), commonly called '''number coding''' or '''color coding''', is a [[road space rationing]] program in the [[Philippines]] that aims to reduce [[traffic congestion]], in particular during peak hours, by restricting the use of major public roads by certain types of vehicles based on the final digit on their [[Vehicle registration plates of the Philippines|license plate]]s. First implemented in 1995 in [[Metro Manila]], the program has since been emulated in the cities of [[Baguio]], [[Cabanatuan]], and [[Dagupan]], and the province of [[Cavite]] with slight variations.

==History==

The Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program was the culmination of two plans devised in the mid-1990s to help resolve the issue of heavy traffic congestion in Metro Manila, which by then was the subject of many complaints among motorists, by restricting the number of vehicles on the road. Although it was first implemented in 1995, the UVVRP, in its current form, dates back to 1996.

===The traffic situation in Metro Manila and initial impetus (1995)===

The original UVVRP was conceived by Col. Romeo Maganto, who served as the executive director of the [[Metropolitan Manila Development Authority]]'s traffic management office.<ref name="start" /> First implemented in October 1995 on an experimental basis to address the traffic congestion caused by the construction of the [[MRT Line 3 (Metro Manila)|Metro Rail Transit Line 3]] (MRT-3) on [[EDSA|Epifanio de los Santos Avenue]] (EDSA),<ref name="Tort1998">{{Cite news |last=Tort |first=Marvin |date=December 9, 1998 |title=Iron Horses; Hare-brained ideas |url=https://advance.lexis.com/api/document?collection=news&id=urn:contentItem:3W95-J8M0-00JS-92V9-00000-00&context=1516831 |access-date=October 8, 2022 |work=[[BusinessWorld]]}}</ref> it initially targeted [[Public transport|public utility vehicle]]s, later expanding to all vehicles plying EDSA, where traffic congestion in Metro Manila was at its heaviest.<ref name="start" /> Vehicles covered under the original UVVRP were banned from EDSA for the entire day based on the last digit of a vehicle's license plate, similar to the current UVVRP.<ref name="maganto" />

On November 6, 1995, upon the urging of public transport groups, Maganto expanded the UVVRP to include all vehicles on most Metro Manila roads to prevent [[rat running]], which caused private vehicular traffic to use secondary roads alongside [[jeepney]]s. By this time, of the estimated 1.1 million motor vehicles then plying city roads, around 70 per cent of those vehicles — which numbered around 800,000 — were private vehicles, and the MMDA was under pressure to resolve Metro Manila's worsening traffic problems. The worsening traffic on secondary roads forced Maganto to implement a blanket ban on private vehicles as well, with the ban being implemented during rush hour from 7:00 to 9:00&nbsp;a.m. and 5:00–7:00&nbsp;p.m.<ref name="start" />

The UVVRP, however, was still largely voluntary, and while it was implemented by Maganto's office, the program did not have a legal basis in Metro Manila law. Mayors, in particular [[Jejomar Binay]] of [[Makati]], were leery of the program, accusing Maganto of circumventing the Metro Manila Council, which sets policy for the MMDA, and with Maganto even threatening to resign if mayors did not support the plan. This was compounded by the fact that Maganto's original scheme did not specify penalties for violations of the UVVRP since penalties could only be imposed by the MMC.<ref name="pressure" /> Tensions came to a head on November 21, 1995, when Senator [[Tito Sotto|Vicente Sotto III]] had to appeal to Maganto and the mayors during a [[Senate of the Philippines|Senate]] hearing on the scheme to work together to resolve Metro Manila's traffic problems.<ref name="titosotto" />

This changed on November 23, 1995, when Chairman ProsperoPróspero Oreta signed MMDA Regulation No. 95-001, codifying Maganto's scheme and mandating that strict implementation begin on December 1, 1995. The final version adopted by the MMDA combined elements of the original UVVRP and the partial ban implemented by Maganto for private vehicles, where vehicles with plate numbers ending in an odd number were to be barred from major streets in Metro Manila on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and vehicles with plate numbers ending in an even number were to be barred on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, from 7:00 to 9:00&nbsp;a.m. and 5:00 to 7:00&nbsp;p.m.<ref name="implementation" /> No total ban was mandated in the version passed by the MMC. This was the subject of much confusion and criticism on the first day of its implementation, with motorists claiming that the new scheme did not significantly reduce traffic congestion, unlike Maganto's original scheme.<ref name="implementation" />

===Return to the original UVVRP (1996–2003)===

Although the UVVRP was implemented in the manner specified in MMDA Regulation 95-001, the original UVVRP was reimplemented in early 1996, with Maganto announcing a twelve-hour ban on vehicles plying EDSA dependingbased on the final digit of thea vehicle's license plate. Originally imposed due to rehabilitation works on the [[Guadalupe Bridge]], the start of three major road projects resulted in the ban being extended to September to reduce the number of vehicles using EDSA to go around affected roads in inner Manila, coexisting alongside the odd-even UVVRP which was implemented on all other roads.<ref name="newban" />

===COVID-19 pandemic===

The program was suspended inacross Metro Manila from March 13, 2020, until November 30, 2021, during the [[COVID-19 community quarantines in the Philippines|community quarantines]] imposed due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Metro Manila|COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1241161/number-coding-scheme-lifted|date=March 13, 2020|accessdate=December 4, 2021|title=Number coding lifted —MMDA|first=Daphne|last=Galvez|newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://mb.com.ph/2021/01/15/number-coding-scheme-remains-lifted-mmda/|date=January 15, 2021|title=Number coding scheme remains lifted —MMDA|first=Jel|last=Santos|work=[[Manila Bulletin]]}}</ref> ThisThe exemption was except in [[Makati]], where a modified number coding scheme was implemented, except onfor vehicles carrying two or more passengers and during weekends and [[Public holidays in the Philippines|holidays]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://manilastandard.net/news/national/359852/ncr-s-number-coding-still-on-hold-makati-modifies-traffic-scheme.html|date=July 15, 2021|title=NCR's number coding still on hold; Makati modifies traffic scheme|first=Joel|last=Zurbano|work=[[Manila Standard]]|access-date=December 4, 2021}}</ref>

The suspension was lifted on December 1, 2021, implementingreplaced with a modified scheme.<ref>{{Cite tweet |author=Official MMDA |author-link= |user=MMDA |number=1466348388015026176 |title=#mmda |script-title= |trans-title= |language= |retweet= |___location= |access-date=December 4, 2021 |link= |url-status= |archive-url= |archive-date= |ref=}}</ref> All vehicles with banned motor vehicle plate endings under the UVVRP, except for public utility vehicles, transportation network vehicle services, motorcycles, garbage trucks, fuel trucks, and vehicles carrying essential and perishable goods and physicians with valid IDidentification arewere covered in the modified scheme from 5:00 to 8:00&nbsp;p.m. on Mondays to Fridays, excluding holidays. Meanwhile, light trucks are prohibited from using [[EDSA]] between [[Magallanes Interchange|Magallanes]], Makati and [[North Avenue (Quezon City)|North Avenue]], [[Quezon City]], from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. from Mondays to Fridays, excluding holidays.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1161268|date=November 29, 2021|accessdate=December 4, 2021|title=Reimposition of 5-8 p.m. number coding in NCR expected this week|first=Raymond Carl|last=Dela Cruz|work=Philippine News Agency}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.topgear.com.ph/news/motoring-news/doctors-number-coding-scheme-a962-20220504?ref=article_hyperlink|title=MMDA: Doctors are exempted from number coding scheme, provided they can show ID|first=Drei|last=Laurel|date=May 4, 2022|accessdate=June 23, 2022}}</ref> The scheme was later expanded to morning rush hours on August 15, 2022, from 7:00 to 10:00&nbsp;a.m. from Mondays to Fridays, excluding holidays, under MMDA Resolution No. 22-14.<ref name="mmdares2214s2022" />

The fullFull number coding scheme in Makati was resumedrestored on March 16, 2022, wherein all vehicles with banned motor vehicle plate endings under the UVVRP, except for vehicles that carrycarrying senior citizen BluCard holders and those traveling for an official business or medical emergency, areprohibited coveredfrom intravel the scheme frombetween 7:00 a.m. toand 7:00 p.m. from Mondays to Fridays, excluding holidays.<ref name="makaticoding_june2022">{{cite news|url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1564931/fwd-normal-number-coding-scheme-back-in-makati-starting-march-16|title='Normal' number coding scheme back in Makati starting March 16|first=Cathrine|last=Gonzales|website=Inquirer.net|accessdate=June 10, 2022|date=March 8, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bworldonline.com/the-nation/2022/03/01/433237/makati-to-resume-full-vehicle-number-coding-scheme-by-march-16/|title=Makati to resume full vehicle number coding scheme by March 16|work=BusinessWorld|accessdate=June 10, 2022|date=March 1, 2022}}</ref>

==Current implementation==

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As of 2023, the UVVRP is currently implemented as follows:<ref name="mmdares2214s2022">{{cite web|url=https://mmda.gov.ph/images/pdf/resolution/2022/22-14_s_2022_Re-implementing_the_UVVRP_in_the_National_Capital_Region_.pdf|title=MMDA Resolution No. 22-14, s. 2022|date=August 11, 2022|accessdate=March 12, 2024|publisher=[[Metro Manila Development Authority]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.autodeal.com.ph/articles/car-features/2023-guide-number-coding-in-philippines|title=The 2023 Guide to Number Coding in the Philippines|first=Allysa Mae|last=Zulueta|website=Autodeal|date=April 4, 2023|accessdate=August 19, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.autodeal.com.ph/articles/car-features/there-number-coding-philippine-highways-expressways|title=Is there number coding on Philippine Highways/Expressways?|first=Earl|last=Lee|website=Autodeal|date=April 26, 2022|accessdate=August 19, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bworldonline.com/the-nation/2022/08/14/468182/16-roads-covered-by-number-coding-scheme-full-implementation-starts-aug-18/|title=16 roads covered by number coding scheme; full implementation starts Aug. 18|date=August 14, 2022|publisher=BusinessWorld}}</ref>

# Applies from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., and from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., from Mondays to Fridays, excluding [[Public holidays in the Philippines|holidays]].

# Window hours are from 10:01 a.m. to 4:59 p.m. Some differences apply to certain cities. See(''see below'').

# Applies to [[List of roads in Metro Manila|major roads]], [[List of roads in Metro Manila#Radial roads|radial]] roads, and [[List of roads in Metro Manila#Circumferential roads|circumferential]] roads in Metro Manila.

# Not applied to [[List of expressways in the Philippines|expressways]] traversing Metro Manila.