Again, Metro Manila’s traffic problem has moved from small talk, serious opinions, social media postings to the Cabinet agenda. In the 16th Cabinet meeting held April 3, President Marcos ordered government agencies to come up with a comprehensive proposal – not a piecemeal approach – to solve the traffic problem as part of building a better transport system.
Indeed, traffic is part of a whole system that affects not only the transport system but also production of goods, delivery of services, efficiency of the workforce, and the health of the citizens. In other words, traffic affects lives. That is a fact that needs no further explanation.
Traffic is a problem that came with rapid urbanization. Other cities around the world also went through – and continue to go through – urbanization, and the traffic problem. Many of them have found solutions to deal with rising population, the need for mobility and limited road space.
There was a “very long discussion” on the traffic issue, according to National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, who emphasized that the President’s direction is for a “comprehensive, holistic approach to solving the traffic problem.”
In planning to improve the transport system, the government should be looking at intermodal transport system and see how they operate efficiently as a whole, the President had stressed.
Building a better transport system must be “seen in the context of all the other transport systems including bike lanes, motorcycle lanes, as well as feeder roads and including the location of industries, residences and so on,” the NEDA chief said.
A point brought up during the Cabinet meeting was that if there is a chokepoint at one section, it affects the whole transport system.
For now, let us focus on our traffic system, which is a chokepoint in the whole transport system. The 2023 Tomtom Traffic Index released in January found that Metro Manila topped the list of metro areas with the worst traffic last year. It took an average of 25 minutes and 30 seconds to drive through 10 kilometers in the National Capital Region (NCR), a figure 50 seconds slower than its previous record.
Traffic congestion costs the Philippine economy at least ₱2.4 billion per day, according to a 2014 report of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in 2014. This amount reflects the value of time lost due to delay, fuel costs, impact on health, and environmental destruction, among others. If no intervention will be implemented by 2030, JICA predicts the associated costs will likely increase to ₱6 billion.
Many proposals on how to ease or solve the traffic problem in Metro Manila have been made. The most recent is a proposal from the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) for the designation of a traffic czar who must be “vested with full powers and authority to mobilize, direct and deploy existing relevant resources of the government, both national and local, during the exigency of this crisis.”
While top government officials plan a comprehensive solution, citizens and visitors of Metro Manila have to live with what traffic congestion can take away from their day, oftentimes leaving four hours earlier to get to their destinations.
Rising population (Metro Manila’s population is about 13.5 million), and the need for mobility are the big challenges that those tasked to bring a solution to this chokepoint in our transport system face.