People ride their respective buses at the Epifanio De Los Santos Avenue (EDSA) Carousel bus lane in Kamuning Quezon City on February 03, 2022. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File

MANILA (UPDATED) — The government plans to phase out EDSA bus lanes when rider capacity on the Metro Rail Transit increases, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said Wednesday, adding it also plans to "modify" bike lanes to have bicycles share them with motorcycles, which are heavier and generally travel at higher speeds. 

Speaking on TeleRadyo Serbisyo, Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said EDSA bus lanes will be removed gradually as the passenger capacity of MRT is expected to 800,000 daily riders within the year. 

The MRT can currently transport around 300,000 riders a day. 

Buses move in opposite direction? MMDA says planned EDSA busway modification needs more study

Transport reform advocates, including the Move As One Coalition, have been calling for improved public transportation but have also stressed that commuters are served better by having more options. Those options could include buses and trains, as well as active transport like bicycles.  

Remulla said Wednesday that the bike lanes on EDSA would be "modified" to become two lanes to accommodate motorcycles. 

He noted that the majority of crashes involved motorcycles trying to avoid traffic. 

"Eventually ang aim diyan to improve the efficiency of public transportation para ma-discourage na 'yung mga tao na magdala ng sariling kotse," he said. 

(Eventually, our aim is to improve the efficiency of public transportation to discourage people from bringing their cars) 

He said that for that to happen, public transportation should have higher capacities and people should get used to taking public transportation.

Car owners are actually a minority in the Philippines but transportation policy has generally favored automobile users. 

DOTR: BUS LANE TO BE EXTENDED ACROSS NCR 

The Department of Transportation, however, stated that the busway "has shown success" and will definitely "move forward". 

In a televised interview, Transportation Undersecretary for Road Transport and Infrastructure Jesus Ferdinand "Andy" Ortega said the recent proposal to remove the busway will be studied thoroughly, but they already have plans to actually extend it across Metro Manila.  

"Definitely it will be studied, definitely mapag-uusapan, ngunit tungkol sa ating buslane,  napakaraming sumasakay sa buslane, sa bus carousel na 'yan," Ortega said.

"In fact, on the part of DOTr, we'll be having a Private-Public Partnership, palalawigin natin 'yung EDSA buslane at ito ay mag-e-extend pa sa northern, eastern, southern part ng NCR and definitely attract more passengers, it will be convenient to more passengers," he explained. 

In relation to the proposed modification of the bike lane and merging it with the motorcycle lane, Ortega said this will still undergo studies by various agencies.

"At the end of the day, lahat naman 'yan mag-uusap. We have different agencies that will  discuss it thoroughly, further," he said. -- with a report from Harlene Delgado, ABS-CBN News