When our balikbayan (returning Filipinos from overseas) friends talk about their experiences abroad, it is almost certain that the conversation would involve how other countries’ traffic law enforcement respond to traffic violators and how quick it is, thanks to their use of technology.
Now, Metro Manila’s response to traffic law enforcement could become close to those abroad, thanks to an information-sharing agreement signed by the country’s two leading traffic enforcement agencies.
The Land Transportation Office (LTO) and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), have inked a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) interconnecting their data systems for quicker sharing of information on motorists and vehicles involved in traffic violations and apprehensions.
The MOA was signed by MMDA Chairman, Atty. Romando Artes and LTO Chief Assistant Secretary, Edgar Galvante, establishing the LTO-MMDA System Interconnectivity Project, which calls for daily data-sharing between the MMDA’s data systems and the LTO’s Land Transport Management System (LTMS).
According to Artes, this will make the MMDA’s traffic enforcement and apprehension systems more efficient, with real-time access to pertinent LTO records within the LTMS.
The LTMS is LTO’s own data repository and services backbone that is online and client-based, allowing access to stakeholders 24/7. Aside from driver’s licenses, vehicle registrations, and vehicle safety inspection records, the LTMS is now interconnected with allied parties like vehicle sellers, insurance companies, and government agencies like the Government Service Insurance System and Bureau of Customs.
“This will allow the MMDA to more swiftly determine the ownership and address of vehicle owners caught by its non-contact apprehension system (NCAP), so the parties involved can be informed and their violations settled,” said Artes.
The new partnership will also enhance the NCAP thru an email/text message notification. This will serve as advance notification to the traffic violators but they will still be receiving a printed copy of the notice for the complete details of the apprehension.
The MMDA NCAP is a policy that utilizes CCTV, digital cameras, and/or other gadgets or technology to capture videos and images to apprehend vehicles violating traffic rules and regulations.
“With this agreement, we can quickly pinpoint drivers committing multiple traffic violations resulting in the suspension of their licenses and their mandatory training on road safety and traffic rules. Drivers with violations will also be prevented from receiving the new ten-year licenses that are now being granted by the LTO,” said Galvante.
The LTO, for its part, will be speedily furnished with the MMDA’s data on traffic apprehensions, violations, and vehicle alarms which will be logged onto the records of drivers and vehicles enrolled in the LTMS.
The MMDA has committed to furnishing the LTO with this data starting from 2016. It will also be furnishing the LTO with new records of these violations, apprehensions, and alarms on a daily basis.
Both agencies will also share data on alarms for motor vehicles involved in traffic violations or incidents so that parties can be more swiftly apprehended or informed of their violations.
