Combination

motorcycles are added daily to the population of vehicles on the road. No amount of road building or widening by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) can deliver enough new road space to accommodate this rate of increase in vehicle numbers. No wonder we all face worsening road congestion.

Most commuters prefer to shift to private car use as soon as they can afford to, because public trans unreliable — while other options, such as walking or cycling, are - gerous (usually because sidewalks or bike lanes are non-existent or of poor quality).

The sustainable solution —which cities all over the world have already embraced — is to make public transport, walking and cycling attractive (safe, convenient, affordable and

so that car owners will prefer to leave their cars at home and commuters will remain loyal to public transport. Mobility will improve for all when we see car users becoming public transport users, instead of the other way around.

We are seeing today a huge effort by the Department of Transportation ( DOTr) to improve mass transit in Greater Manila. The North-South Commuter Rail Project and the Metro Manila Subway, both of which will break ground this year, are good examples of infrastructure investments urgently needed in this metropolis. The North-South Commuter Railway, a P777.5-billion investment will passengers daily. The Metro Manila daily passengers.

DoTr is also working very hard to expand and improve existing expected to be operational within the

Even if all the rail projects mentioned above proceed as planned, rail transport will account for less than one- fifth of all passenger trips in Greater Manila — the rest of the passenger trips, more than road- based transport. To have meaningful positive impact on our collective mobility, road-based public transport, especially buses, should also move to higher quality.

If DoTr focuses on rail development, but leaves other transportation modes as they are today — unpredictable, slow, unsafe and inconvenient - experience. If rail is the only mass transit mode with predictable travel times, rail systems will continue to be overcrowded and uncomfortable.

For most commuters, the rail network covers only part of their total journey. Other parts of their daily journey usually involve walking or transfers to road-based public transport, such as jeepneys, buses and UV Express. If these road-based components of their journey remain “low quality” and unreliable, commuters will still be inclined to shift to private car or motorcycle use. Mobility will continue deteriorating for all.

How do we make road- based public transport high quality — safe, comfortable, predictable and fast? This is where BRT comes in. More than providing faster travel along a dedicated lane, BRT can

help to uplift transport industry performance and standards.

BRT can be inclusive and transformative — it can help bus and themselves and transition to a new business model that avoids onstreet competition and provides predictable incomes for bus owners and drivers. Under BRT, bus operators will be paid to provide a service based on a timetables and schedules, rather than compete among each other for riders.

Implementing BRT will help trans vehicles. BRT buses could even be ful air and making our cities livable. This is highly relevant and timely for Philippine bus and jeepney operators who face a deadline to replace their old and polluting equipment.

Since the start of the Duterte administration, there have been two that have been largely ignored by - ment cost of about P5 billion, would and Manila City Hall. Metro Manila 2.6 million passengers daily at an investment cost of about P38 billion. - and should be implemented with urgency, they have sadly received little priority within DOTr.

In a metropolis hungry for quality mass transit, the two Metro close to 3 million passengers daily at a cost of about P43 billion — a bargain compared to the cost of any of the new rail projects. Both

BRT systems will complement the existing rail network and enable many commuters to have better connections to their destinations. In fact, technical analysis in the past year by transportation experts have - nomic viability of the proposed BRT systems. In many great cities such as Seoul and New York, many BRT lines run along the same alignment as subway lines, bringing greater convenience for commuters.

Even with MRT3 expansion, transit capacity and a BRT line along transfer easily to a BRT bus going, a higher volume of commuters with coming lane closures due to increased volume of commuters the PITX terminal in Paranaque.

The two Metro Manila BRT projects can be operational within the next three years — much earlier than any of the new rail projects — delivering a more comfortable life for millions of Filipino commuters within the Duterte administration. Otherwise, Metro Manila commuters have little

What are we waiting for?

Robert Y.Siy is a development economist,cityandregionalplanner, Hecanbereachedatmobilitymatters. Twitter@RobertRsiy