MANILA, Philippines - The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) plans to remove the 5-hour window where car owners can use their vehicles during non-peak hours while giving households with only one car an exemption from the number coding scheme.

MMDA chairman Oscar Inocentes said Monday they plan to prolong the number coding scheme from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. by removing the 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. window where car owners can use their vehicles during non-peak hours.

The only vehicles which will exempted from the number coding scheme are rescue units, ambulances, those owned by doctors, and those used for emergencies.

However, Inocentes said households which have only one car can apply for an exemption from the number coding scheme.

Under the present scheme with the 10 a.m. to 3 p.m window, vehicles whose plate numbers end in 1 or 2 are banned on Mondays; 3 or 4 on Tuesdays; 5 or 6 on Wednesdays; 7 or 8 on Thursdays; 9 or 0 on Fridays.

Together with the application of the number coding scheme on public utility buses, the MMDA believes that the volume of traffic in the metropolis can be reduced by 20%. -- Report from Gretchen Malalad, ABS-CBN News