New ordinance designates phone-free elevators during peak commute hours
MAKATI – The Makati City government announced Thursday that it will begin a six month trial requiring all major office towers within the central business district to designate a specific elevator bank exclusively for what the ordinance describes as quiet, non phone call use during the morning and evening commute windows.
The reasoning behind the ordinance
City councilor Beatriz Reyes, who sponsored the measure, said the idea emerged after a survey of office workers found that unwanted exposure to other commuters’ phone conversations during elevator rides ranked among the most commonly cited daily workplace irritations, surprising even some council members who initially viewed the concern as minor.
Under the trial, building management will be required to post clear signage at the designated quiet elevator bank, though Reyes acknowledged the ordinance includes no direct enforcement mechanism beyond encouraging buildings to remind tenants of the designation through standard workplace communications.
Building management response
Several major office tower operators in the district expressed cautious support for the measure, though at least two building managers questioned whether reallocating elevator capacity during peak commute hours might actually worsen overall wait times rather than simply improving the experience for a subset of quiet elevator users.
Reyes said the city considered this concern during drafting and ultimately concluded that most buildings have sufficient elevator capacity to absorb a single dedicated quiet bank without meaningfully affecting overall throughput, though she acknowledged the trial period would provide actual data to confirm or challenge that assumption.
Worker reaction
Office workers interviewed near several participating buildings offered broadly positive reactions, with several saying they specifically planned to seek out the quiet elevator during their morning commute regardless of whether it added a few extra seconds to their wait time.
Not all workers were convinced the ordinance would meaningfully change behavior, with one commuter noting that phone call habits are unlikely to change simply because of elevator bank signage without some form of actual social pressure or enforcement behind it.
What happens next
The trial covers twenty two major office towers within the central business district, with the city planning to survey both building management and tenants after three months to assess whether the designation is being respected in practice.
Further background on Makati city ordinances is available through the Makati City Government and the Official Gazette of the Philippines.
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How other cities have handled similar ideas
Reyes said her office researched comparable workplace etiquette initiatives in other major Asian business districts before drafting the ordinance, finding that while quiet transit zones exist in various forms elsewhere, a dedicated quiet elevator bank specifically for phone call etiquette appears to be a genuinely novel approach rather than an adaptation of an existing model.
She said this novelty made drafting enforcement language particularly difficult, since there was no established regulatory template to adapt, ultimately leading the council to settle on a voluntary, signage based approach rather than attempting to write binding enforcement rules for what remains, fundamentally, a matter of workplace courtesy.
Building specific implementation
Individual buildings have taken varying approaches to implementing the designation, with some posting simple printed signs and others installing small illuminated indicator panels above the designated elevator doors, a variation Reyes said the city is deliberately allowing during the trial to see which approach proves most effective at actually changing commuter behavior.
One building management company said it planned to survey tenants directly about signage effectiveness partway through the trial period, sharing results with the city ahead of the broader three month review.
Feedback collection plans
The city plans to place short feedback forms near each designated quiet elevator bank, allowing commuters to report directly whether the designation was being respected during their most recent ride, data Reyes said would directly inform the council’s decision at the end of the trial period.
A broader workplace culture conversation
Reyes said the ordinance has sparked broader discussion among some council colleagues about other small scale workplace etiquette issues that might benefit from similar light touch municipal encouragement rather than formal regulation, though she stressed no specific follow up proposals have yet been drafted.
She said she views the quiet elevator trial partly as a test of whether this kind of soft, signage based approach can meaningfully shift shared public behavior at all, information that would inform whether similar initiatives are worth pursuing in the future.
Building management associations say they will share consolidated feedback with the city council roughly halfway through the trial period to inform any mid course adjustments.
Tenants with questions about the trial can contact their building management office for further detail on local implementation.
Officials say early feedback collected so far has been broadly encouraging heading into the trial’s midpoint.
A final assessment is expected once the full three month trial period concludes as scheduled.
The council thanked participating buildings for their cooperation throughout the trial period.
Further updates will follow as the trial approaches its scheduled review date.
Interested tenants can follow announcements through building management bulletins.
Further coverage will follow as the trial develops.
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