MANILA - The government will open 3 new bus routes in Metro Manila and nearby provinces on June 5 to ease traffic congestion during the coronavirus pandemic, the authorities said Thursday.

Starting Friday, buses will ply the Monumento-Balagtas, EDSA-Montalban and NAIA Loop routes, the MMDA said in an advisory.

On June 8, city buses will start ferrying passengers along the Monumento-VGC, and the Gilmore Taytay and Monumento-San Jose Del Monte routes, it said.

The number of units that will be deployed in the following routes is still being determined, it said.

"This is part of our gradual and calibrated approach in the resumption of public transport operations in Metro Manila," the MMDA said.

Transport authorities earlier said that the coronavirus lockdown gave authorities ample time to plan routes and traffic schemes to decongest EDSA.

Select public transportation units are allowed to operate at limited capacity after Metro Manila transitioned to a general community quarantine on June 1, ending almost 80 days of lockdown.

• EDSA traffic: Lockdown affords time to plan decongestion, says MMDA

The following routes opened earlier this week:

• Angat-Quezon Ave *Number of authorized units: 510
• Dasmariñas-NCR *Number of authorized units: 151
• Cubao-Antipolo to augment LRT-2
• EDSA Taft-Monumento to augment LRT-1
• Portion of Route E (EDSA Carousel) to augment MRT-3