Cracking the traffic conundrum

Gasping to catch my breath after hurriedly running towards the check-in counters, I arrived at the NAIA Terminal 1 at 8:20 p.m. just in the nick of time when they are about to close. The airline staff said that I was lucky to have made it, and unfortunate for those 40 passengers who would miss their flight bound for Singapore due to the horrendous traffic on Thursday night of August 20. To think that I left Bonifacio Global City at 5:30 p.m. was totally mind-boggling.

Not only that! The plane promptly closed its doors and started its engine at 9:10 p.m., only to wait for 45 minutes because of runway traffic. What a day!

My anecdote is but a rapidly germinating symptom of a social malaise that is besetting our nation. Most people will testify that indeed traffic has worsened to intolerable levels such that a normal one hour drive will take double the time nowadays, taking a huge toll on everyone’s lives. In fact, according to the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), traffic congestion exacts immense economic cost amounting to 576 billion in wasted fuel, productivity, and income opportunities, apart from its toll on the environment, competitiveness and society in general.

Why has traffic exacerbated this much? A regular commuter’s quick comment is that this is due to the sheer volume of vehicles, lack of discipline among bus drivers, and poor infrastructure.

There are more than 2 million cars plying the streets of Metro Manila on a daily basis, according to the Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS); and this is growing by more than 50 percent yearly based on estimates. Couple that with 12 million people moving around the metro, either commuting or driving which further aggravates road activities.

Any driver will attest that the worsening traffic is the volume of buses driven by undisciplined drivers. It’s a common to see multiple buses fighting for passengers in the bus stop, causing heavy jams; and this is because bus drivers earn their living through a commission system which engenders competition for passengers, consequently ignoring traffic rules.

The sheer volume of buses is staggering, totalling more than 13,000 that traverses the Metro, and the ManilaEDSA route alone is plied by 3,711 buses operated by 266 bus companies, based on PIDS research. No wonder why completion is stiff and drivers will do anything to get their commission. But one will also wonder if we need this much buses and operators which become unwieldy to the traffic enforcers and regulators.

Combine these with poor infrastructure or the lack of it will spell disaster. Unkempt drainage systems leads to a deluge at the slightest rainfall, causing a free-for-all havoc among panicking drivers as the traffic enforcers just fade away in the rain.

What is the solution to all of these? The government is not without a sufficient advice from various sectors, such as the MAP on how to fix this pressing problem.

In the short-run, quick engineering fixes such as installing concrete lane delineators on the major thoroughfares will segregate buses and protect fast lanes for unimpeded traffic flows. Well paved roads, lane markings, and steel sidewalk fences to control pedestrians will regulate traffic flow if coupled with ever-present traffic regulators will do the trick.

In the medium and long term, the MAP recommends the appointment of a traffic czar with full authority over all matters relating to or affecting traffic will hasten decisionmaking. Under the supervision of the czar is a highway patrol group as traffic enforcers.

In addition, as suggested by PIDS, is the agglomerations of bus operators for a tighter regulatory control and enhancement of accountability. To preclude recklessness among bus drivers, they have to be assured of daily wages to make them more compliant to traffic rules.

A more lasting solution is a comprehensive mass transport system that covers the whole metro. A network of MRTs should cut across the cities with uniform fare payment system.

I’ve heard all of these suggestions years ago from government leaders, but they just laid flat as empty rhetoric. I’ve also heard these suggestions from various sectors, and heard them over and over again every year for several years now, but they just fell on deaf ears.

It’s high time that we get involved in a social activism to push government to urgently fix the traffic conundrum – and we should select the next leaders who will put this in the top of the national agenda.

*** The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of FINEX.The author may be emailed at reylugtu@gmail. com.

The author is a senior executive in an information and communications technology firm. He also teaches strategy, management and marketing courses in the MBA Program of the Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business, De La Salle University.