“The Marcos administration must address the key challenges in the public transport sector”
So you think the current public transportation crisis defies easy solutions?
Obviously not for the University of the Philippines Diliman. As far as I know, it is the only institution of higher learning in the country that has established a National Center for Transportation Studies (NCTS) within its campus.
According to its website, the NCTS strives to be “an internationally recognized center of excellence in the field of transportation studies.”
It has four key programs: (1) to actively promote the development and greater use of sustainable modes of transport, including the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), to address the ever-worsening problems of traffic congestion, road accidents, air pollution and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from the transport sector.
It conducts research activities that tackle the social, economic, as well as environmental dimensions in the transport sector;
(2) to actively cooperate with concerned government agencies towards the development of a well-integrated national transportation system. Ongoing research activities are focused on multi-modal transportation, land use and transport interaction, planning and decision support systems, and other cross-cutting policy issues;
(3) to help improve existing government processes in relation to the transport sector.
Here, the NCTS has come up with the Philippine Transport Strategy Study (PTSS) that highlights the need for a clear strategy for the sector and the need for institutional change and reforms and conducts training programs aimed at enhancing the capacities of the institutions in the transport sector.
And (4), with about 1,000 lives lost every year due to road accidents, NCTS wants to promote safety on the streets.
It conducts fora involving different concerned agencies, LGUs and NGOs to discuss and formulate solutions in preventing and reducing accident occurrences.
The UP Diliman Task Force on a Blueprint for Building the Nation has tackled as well public transportation policy in addition to political, economic and social reforms.
The Governance Agenda crafted by the Task Force recognized the stark reality that traffic congestion and the inefficiency in the management of the country’s public transport system have both led to economic losses as high as P 3.5 billion worth of potential income per day in Metro Manila alone.
If the problem is left unattended, losses may rise to as high as P 5.4 billion per day by 2035.
Public transport is necessary to reduce traffic congestion, pollution, and unequal access among socio-economic classes to the means of mobility.
A good public transport system leads to more efficient use of urban space.
It is also the key to moving our economy forward as it facilitates the transportation of goods and people around our archipelagic country, linking producers to consumers, connecting communities, and facilitating interaction among individuals.
The Marcos administration must address the key challenges in the public transport sector.
These are: one, the poor implementation of the National Transport Policy that prioritizes public transport over private transport; two, the focus on the “visible” aspects of public transport such as infrastructure instead of focusing on “invisible” aspects such as institutional mechanisms and capacity; three, too many agencies handling public transport concerns and thus the imperative to make them work together; and four, the difficulty in creating a harmonious relationship among key players in the sector such as the government, operators, financiers, private users, and commuters.
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has moved to reform and modernize the public transport system via the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP), which has reportedly consolidated about 54.39 percent of all public utility vehicles (PUV) as of September 2021.
While the objectives of the program are promising, there is a lack of legislation that supports the institutionalization of the program.
The UP Governance Agenda believes, however, that the modernization of the public transport system requires more than the introduction of new technology, important as this is, to make it work. Improving public transport needs a multi-level, multi-stakeholder, and multi-perspective approach that could be achieved through collaborative governance, crowdsourcing, and co-production.
To do this, the government and other stakeholders must identify interventions that will prioritize mass public transport over private vehicles and will improve public transport services.
Having several agencies involved in the planning, supervising, and monitoring of the public transport system also creates a fragmented system of implementation.
To address this, collaborative governance is necessary to consistently implement policies, from the national government to the local government units, and from the PUV operators and drivers to the commuting public.
The UP Governance Agenda suggests the creation of a unified agency that has the capacity to oversee and address public transport concerns and work towards a more efficient, effective, and inclusive implementation of public transport programs.
The creation of a single agency that could consolidate and address the concerns of public transport should be considered, according to the UP Task Force.
This agency should have the capability to address different concerns related to the planning, operations, and monitoring of public transport.
This agency, in collaboration with different stakeholders, should be able to identify gaps in the implementation of the PUVMP in particular and address the structural concerns that cripple its current implementation.
To further improve public transport, this agency should focus on industry consolidation, fleet modernization, and a just transition that supports the welfare of transport industry workers and operators.
What do you think of these recommendations? Are they realistic and doable? (Email: ernhil@yahoo.com)