MMDA completes switch to adaptive traffic lights

MANILA, Philippines — Don’t be surprised if you no longer see countdown timers on traffic lights at busy intersections in Metro Manila.

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said it completed on Friday its switch-up “adaptive signaling system” at 96 intersections in the National Capital Region.

Instead of the fixed period of seconds, which may last from 30 seconds to two minutes, for the traffic lights to change color, loop detectors or sensors embedded in the ground would now determine if the traffic lights need to signal stop or go, depending on the volume of vehicles on the roads, according to MMDA Chair Don Artes.

Artes said the removal of all the traffic signal light timers under MMDA’s jurisdiction has been “100 percent completed.”

READ: Traffic sensors installed at 60% of major NCR intersections

“These sensors are measuring the volume of traffic, especially at night. For example, Lane A has no more cars. Even if it was programmed initially for one minute, it will then be cut short to 30 seconds and will be transferred to the lane that needed it more because of the volume,” Artes explained in a TV interview.

P295-M project

“I think the warning of five blinks and three seconds of yellow and red light on traffic stops is sufficient enough to allow our motorists to adjust and know when they need to slow down and stop before an intersection, right? So that they will not beat the red light,” he added.

The adaptive signaling system of the MMDA was part of the 5.5 million-euro (around P295 million) project awarded in December 2012 to Spanish IT and defense company Indra Sistemas in a consortium with Meralco Industrial Engineering Services Corp., which is a subsidiary of Manila Electric Co.

The traffic controllers and traffic light regulators placed at the intersections are integrated into the MMDA’s Communications and Command Center in Pasig City through Indra’s Hermes smart-traffic management system.

But some motorists were not happy with the change, saying it would be a source of confusion.

“The countdown timers on traffic lights should be retained so we will know when to slow down at intersections,” one motorist commented on MMDA’s social media page.

“Timers have been there since time immemorial. They are tried and tested by us motorists. Why are you removing them and making us predict when the colors of the traffic lights will change?” another complained.

Another commenter said the removal of the countdown timers, along with the enforcement of the no-contact apprehension policy, was a “money-generating scheme” for the MMDA, as more vehicles would be flagged for beating the red light.

A motorist suggested that with the sensor-based traffic lights, there should be fewer MMDA traffic enforcers, who “only wait for people to beat the red light and issue violation tickets.” /cb

(2025/06/30-05:35)