It was December of last year when the City of Manila formally launched its No Contact Apprehension (NCAP) program to help manage the city’s traffic. Barely two months after the program’s inauguration, the Nation’s Capital reported a whopping 14,880 traffic violators caught by the city’s CCTVs.
A motorcycle rider even shared how he was summoned by the city after being caught disobeying a traffic rule. It only goes to show that Manila is serious about fixing its traffic problems.
A year and a half later, Manila reports that drivers and motorcycle riders seem to be more “obedient” and are now following the rules.
“Sa NCAP natututo ang driver at dahil may penalty, hindi na sila umuulit. Umaayos ang daloy ng trapiko at natututo ang mga motoristang sumunod sa batas-trapiko maski walang traffic enforcer doon. Masaya kami sa data na nagpapakita na may improvement sa sistema sa kalsada, unti-unti ay naisasaayos na din. (Because of the NCAP, the driver learns their mistake. Because there is a penalty, they don’t repeat their offenses. Traffic flow improves and motorists learn to obey traffic laws even though there is no traffic enforcer there. We are happy that the data is showing an improvement in road discipline. Road discipline is being addressed slowly.)” said Wilson Chan, chief of Manila Traffic and Parking Bureau (MTPB).
According to MTPB, the city has seen a 25% to 31% decrease in traffic violation citations during the first half of 2021, on a month-to-month basis.
Based on records, the top 3 major violations committed by motorists caught by the NCAP system are failure to follow traffic controls/signals like beating the red light or illegal turns; disregarding lane markings like stopping on pedestrian lanes, or going straight on left turn only lanes; and reckless driving. Taft Avenue has recorded the most number of traffic violators.
“This only shows that our NCAP traffic enforcement system is indeed working and is a major help to the city in terms of managing the traffic,” added Chan.
To check out and see if you have an outstanding traffic violation in the City of Manila, go to https://nocontact.manilacity.ph/plate.
