SEVERAL policies have been introduced by the government this year to ease traffic in Metro Manila—where 15 million of the country’s 105-million population live—but the problem has remained and continued to harass hapless motorists and commuters.
Among these traffic-mitigating measures are the expanded Number Coding Scheme and suspending the so-called window hours for both public utility and private vehicles: the Close Door and the Nose In – Nose Out policy for provincial buses; the Motorcycle Lane policy, the No Contact Apprehension, the opening of 17 Mabuhay Lanes, or alternate routes for private vehicles, and a number of short-term road regulations on Epifanio de los Santos Avenue.
Apart from these measures, the government also came up with a decision to create a task force dubbed as Inter-agency Council on Traffic or I-ACT that is now handling traffic management in the National Capital Region.
The council is composed of personnel from the agencies under the supervision of the Department of Transportation, Philippine National Police and Metro Manila Development Authority.
Forming this group sidelined the MMDA as the sole agency supervising, controlling and managing traffic.
Local government units have also aligned their traffic rules with the I-ACT, such as implementing the suspension of window hours in their cities and areas of jurisdiction.
The I-ACT headed and supervised by Transportation Secretary Arturo Tugade claimed there was slight improvement of traffic in the metropolis because of these measures.
It added the travel time of motorists was reduced by at least 10 to 15 minutes, also because of the expanded number coding scheme.
However, residents of Metro Manila and those from various provinces in Central Luzon and southern Tagalog still experiencing at least two hours in traffic on major thoroughfares, especially along Edsa.
The MMDA had identified seven choke points along Edsa.
These are the Balintawak Market Road, Aurora Boulevard, Ortigas Avenue, Shaw Boulevard, Guadalupe, Ayala Avenue and Taft Avenue.
The other traffic-prone areas:
In Southern Metro Manila: Major roads leading to Ninoy Aquino International Airport terminals, particularly Airport Road, Domestic Road, Andrews Avenue, Tramo Avenue, Sucat Avenue and Sales Road; and Alabang-Zapote Road and Circulo del Mundo Avenue.
In Northern part of the metro are Rizal Avenue, Samson Road, Gen. Malvar Street, Mc Arthur Highway, Karuhatan Road, Gen. De Leon, Pio Valenzuela and Gen. De Jesus.
In Eastern part: Santolan, Gil Fernando Bridge, Marcos Highway, San Juan Intersection, Pasig Intersection and Meralco Avenue.
In Quezon City: Boni Serrano Avenue, Araneta Avenue, Timog Avenue, E. Rodriguez Avenue, Katipunan Avenue, C.P. Garcia Avenue, Magsaysay Avenue, Capitol Intersection, Luzon flyover, J.P. Rizal, Ayala Heights Rotunda, Mirriam Gate and Ateneo Gate.
In Manila, the critical traffic areas are Bonifacio Drive, Roxas Boulevard, Espana Boulevard, Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard, Jose Abad Santos Avenue, Claro M. Recto Avenue, Sen. Osmena Highway and Rizal Avenue (Carriedo).
“What we are doing is to manage heavy traffic. If you observe and imagine if we do not enforce (measures), definitely it will be worsened. It’s not an excuse,” said MMDA acting chairman Thomas Orbos.
“We are managing (traffic) up to the point that it will be manageable rather than it is not manageable. I would say at least we are moving unlike before,” he added.
Orbos blamed the lack of budget, equipment and manpower as among the reasons for the failure of his agency to fully enforce some policies to mitigate traffic.
For 2017, the MMDA has been given P2.13 billion, which is already nine percent higher than its current budget of P1.96 billion. Of the amount, only P246.65 Million was allocated for the agency’s traffic and transport management program.
The new budget will also fund the following programs of the MMDA next year: Solid Waste Disposal and Management (P993.54 million); Flood Control and Sewerage Management (P751.29 million); Pasig River Ferry Service (P119.40 million; and South-West Integrated Provincial Terminal (P19.48 million).