Traffic congestion needs solutions, not excuses

LAST week, in response to the release of a report called the TomTom Traffic Index showing that Metro Manila had the worst traffic congestion among 387 global cities, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) acting chairman Romando Artes called a press conference, not to explain how his agency would address what the study revealed, but rather to complain that it was unfair.

It is rather discouraging to learn that the agency chiefly responsible for managing traffic in the nation’s largest metropolitan area is completely missing the point. TomTom, a Netherlands-based software company specializing in mapping and traffic monitoring and management tools, uses global positioning system (GPS) data to identify where and when traffic congestion occurs. Provided that a sufficient amount of data is available, GPS tracking is the most objective way to build up a picture of traffic movement.

So, while we certainly share acting chairman Artes’ disappointment in the findings of the report, it is only to the extent that it provides empirical evidence for what anyone who tries to move around Metro Manila, by virtually any means, anecdotally experiences on a day-to-day basis. Beyond that, however, Artes’ questioning of the findings, as well as his declaration that he would seek to “explain what MMDA is doing to ease traffic” to the authors of the study, is the worst form of gaslighting.

It does not actually matter if Metro Manila has the “worst” traffic in the world, or the second-worst, or the hundredthworst; it is unacceptably bad, and something needs to be done about it. Whatever “MMDA is doing to ease traffic” is clearly not working, whether Artes provides that explanation to a disinterested third party in the Netherlands or to the people who live and work in Metro Manila and deserve to hear it.

Of course, we understand that merely dunning the MMDA and its acting chairman for expressing their hurt feelings is also not going to help solve the traffic dilemma. Real solutions are needed, and fortunately, there is no lack of them that have been suggested; the MMDA need not apply any real imagination but simply study them and determine how they can be implemented.

Certainly, there are factors that are entirely beyond MMDA’s control, such as the development of transportation infrastructure. For its part, the Department of Transportation’s reaction to the traffic study was to reassure the public that it would speed up its efforts to complete ongoing projects, but whether it does or not, the MMDA has to work with what exists. Likewise, it should be understood that there is no “magic bullet” and that a solution to congestion is going to comprise many smaller actions. Every positive action taken, however, is a step in the right direction, and each step makes subsequent ones easier. Starting with relatively simple ideas will at least put us on a path toward a solution.

One such simple idea suggested by the recent traffic study is that the MMDA should work on capturing the same sort of information to aid in traffic monitoring, responding to trouble spots, and overall planning. This could be done in two ways, perhaps even both at the same time. The MMDA could develop its own traffic app and encourage Metro Manila drivers to use it; that use could even be made mandatory for certain vehicles, such as public transportation, government, and commercial vehicles. The MMDA could also seek to form data-sharing agreements with existing applications, such as Google Maps, Waze or TomTom’s AmiGO app.

The other area where significant improvements could be realized is in traffic enforcement. Acting chairman Artes lamented the suspension of the no-contact apprehension policy, and he does have a point, but again, the MMDA needs to live in the moment; the absence of that one tool is not an excuse not to do anything. The MMDA’s usual practice of focusing intensified enforcement efforts on one aspect of traffic regulations, or in one problematic area, for a short period of time, is self-defeating; scofflaws realize that the efforts will eventually end, and so any modification of their usual habits need only be temporary.

Enforcement efforts need to be continuous and consistently applied across MMDA’s entire jurisdiction. For that, the MMDA needs a significant increase in resources and enforcement personnel, something that the government should not hesitate to provide.