PITX: Finding answers to commuting woes and the science of mobility

Every day at rush hour, in any major intersection in Metro Manila, you’ll be greeted by the same familiar scene — throngs of people lined up along the streets trying to catch a ride home. It’s a reality that has perplexed urban planners, transportation providers, and local government alike. But for Megawide Construction Corp., the answer is in data science, and a three-hectare plot of land along Manila Bay, the site of what would become Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX).

Located along Coastal Road, Parañaque, PITX combines intermodal transport with offices, retail, and food & beverage outlets in a 100,000-square-meter complex.

The scale of PITX is mind-boggling, and its imposing, four-tower structure is impossible to miss while driving along Coastal Road, Parañaque. It combines intermodal transport with offices, retail, and food and beverage outlets. The complex itself measures half a kilometer in length, 100,000 square meters in floor area, and has the capacity for 200,000 passengers to pass through its turnstiles every day.

The intention, according to Jim Feliciano, president of MWM Terminals Inc. Megawide’s transport arm, is to “rationalize the availability of transport” by providing a place for city and provincial buses, all types of jeepneys, and taxis to shuttle passengers without clogging the streets of the city center. According to Megawide’s analysis, there is more than enough supply of transport options in Metro Manila, but they are just not deployed at the right time to match demand.

The team at PITX applies supply and demand analysis to determine when to schedule routes to maximize occupancy.

“At peak hour, everyone’s there, but when it gets to off-peak, nobody’s there,” says Feliciano. “The answer might be that we don’t need 2,000 buses a day in a given area, we just need 1,200 at the right time so we don’t congest the roads.”

Applying data science and technology to transport is at the heart of Megawide’s transportation strategy, and indeed PITX. Feliciano and his team apply supply and demand analysis to determine when to schedule routes to maximize occupancy, and pass these insights to transportation providers and regulators like the LTFRB.

PITX has the capacity for up to 200,000 passengers to pass through its turnstiles every day, utilizing a range of transportation options from city and provincial buses, to jeepneys and taxis.

At PITX, commuters are greeted by technology that rivals world-class airports, from Public Information Displays that show schedules and routes, to a ticketing system that allows passengers to book online, choose their seats, and scan their boarding passes at the gates.

But why situate a transport terminal so far from the congestion of the inner city? The key is in the “hub and spoke” concept, says Feliciano: Placing large hubs like PITX away from the city center where there’s more space, while placing smaller spokes in denser areas to line the routes radiating from the hub.

PITX’s modern terminal contains a wealth of retail and F&B outlets, and amenities like shower rooms to ensure that passengers are comfortable and safe while waiting for their ride.

Locating PITX on a previously undeveloped area along the coast has had another effect: gentrification.