Business group: No to private cars on EDSA busway

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November 4, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Business group Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) yesterday opposed a proposal allowing private vehicles to use the exclusive EDSA busway for two weeks.

“Students are not adequate reasons for this exemption,” the group said in a statement.

The Departments of Transportation and Public Works and Highways announced on Monday that the EDSA busway would be open to private motorists for two weeks. 

The move aims to ease traffic congestion along EDSA as students and workers started returning yesterday from the provinces following the Undas break. 

While MAP is against opening the busway to private vehicles, the group said car pools with a minimum of four passengers can be allowed during certain hours to coincide with school hours, provided that regulators can enforce it. 

“School buses and P2P (point-to-point) buses may be allowed,” MAP said. 

Instead of opening the busway to private cars, MAP said the government must field more buses along the busiest thoroughfare in the metropolis.

The number of buses on the EDSA Carousel has been decreasing due to the lack of government support, according to the group.

In addition to the dispatch of more buses, MAP also pushed for the reduction in headway and construction of additional bus stations to encourage more commuters to use the busway. 

The group said bus stations in Roosevelt, Cubao, Rockwell, Ayala, Magallanes, Malibay, Pasay and the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange need to be built.

MAP also reiterated its call on Congress to restore funding for the EDSA busway under the 2027 budget. 

“Private vehicles on the roads should be reduced,” MAP said. 

The EDSA busway has served 341,307,847 passengers from 2020 to December last year.