It’s been about a week and a half since the dry-run/pilot run of the Single Ticketing System started. We’re all excited to hear how that’s coming along, right? “Smooth” is how the MMDA described its implementation so far, but what we really want to know is how many tickets were given or apprehensions were made. The tally in the first 3 days: 1,000.
Single Ticketing System apprehends “more or less” 1,000 motorists
Photo: MMDA
In an aired interview, Metro Manila Council President and San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora bared the numbers. According to Zamora, there were “over” 1,000 motorists that were given citations and fines in the first 3 days of the Single Ticketing System’s (STS) pilot run. Speaking quite candidly, he admitted that there were over 100 violators in his City alone.
“Dito po sa San Juan, over 100 violators po, at doon naman po sa mga nag-rollout sa ibang lungsod [Here in San Juan there were over 100 violators, and in other cities there were], more or less a total of 1,000 in the first three days,” the Mayor said.
Photo: LTO
As a reminder, though, the option to pay for fines digitally via the STS enforcers’ handheld devices is still not active. Likewise, the application of demerits for being apprehended is also put on hold for the meantime. For the former, the MMDA estimates that this function will be available by the 3rd week of May, which is next week. In the name of intended convenience, we hope that this does start working within that time.
Photo: LTO
Across the 5 cities included in the Single Ticketing System’s pilot run – San Juan, Muntinlupa, Quezon City, Valenzuela, Parañaque, Manila, and Caloocan – the averages come out to about 333 apprehensions a day, and that’s only in the 1st 3 days. There’s a lot to be learned here. Whether it’s a lack of driving and motoring education or brazen disregard for the law, barring the technical glitches and difficulties, if a motorist is in the wrong, he or she will be apprehended.
The Single Ticketing System is not meant to weed out erring motorists. Rather, it’s even supposed to be a “convenience” for settling violations and fines. As long as motorists are apprehended for driving misdemeanors, the problem of “worthy versus unworthy driver’s license holders” persists. And we think that that’s a bigger issue than the lacking functions of handheld devices, and a stark reminder that we still live in a motoring-unruly metropolis.
