MMDA ‘new rules’ will lead to hell, not heaven

No doubt about it, traffic is now one of the most serious challenges to be faced by the administration of president-elect Rodrigo Duterte, so much so that various business groups are ready to support proposals to grant emergency powers to the incoming president. Even before his now viral interview with blogger Mocha Uson, Duterte already said there is no silver bullet to solve the traffic mess in Metro Manila, with commuters and drivers spending four to six hours travelling to work and going back home, and estimates placing economic losses at P3 billion per day due to traffic.

As a matter of fact, text messages are being passed around about the “new” traffic rules MMDA will supposedly start enforcing by July 1 – and these include the implementation of an odd-even scheme (instead of number coding) with no window hours for exception; opening up of subdivision gates at certain hours (presumably during rush hours); enforcement of the “no car, no garage” policy; banning of provincial buses from EDSA; denial of registration for vehicles that are more than 15 years old; turning of unused big vacant lots into pay parking areas by LGUs; relocating bus stops 100 meters away from malls and train terminals; confiscation and cancellation of LTO registration for colorum and out-of-line vehicles; and prohibition of parking along sidewalks by patrons of commercial establishments (like restos in Timog and Maginhawa in Quezon City); and others.

A lot of the above are actually still proposals and recommendations, but talk about giving emergency powers to the incoming president to solve the traffic problem has revived them – and these are sure to meet resistance among affected Filipinos. For instance, opening up subdivision gates is driving fears that security within private enclaves could become compromised. The same goes for the “no garage, no car” policy, with critics saying this curtails an individual’s right to obtain property. Owners of cars older than 15 years also disagree with the prohibition, saying old vehicles that are well maintained will not cause obstruction. They also point to an earlier administrative order issued by the MMDA that limits the use of vintage vehicles (those with year models earlier than 1975) to weekends and holidays only. After meeting strong objection from vintage car owners who said the AO is a violation of people’s constitutional right to own and enjoy property, the MMDA rescinded the order. 

Studies show Metro Manila lacks about 3,000 kilometers of road networks (MMDA says there are only 5,000 kilometers). The real solution to this gargantuan traffic problem is not adding more roads but minimizing the number of cars on the roads. According to local car manufacturers, the Philippines is poised to become a major car market by 2020 with an estimated 500,000 units to be sold – up from the 168,000 units sold in 2010. Over the years, the number of cars sold has exponentially increased with 269,000 units sold in 2014 and 310,000 units sold last year. This year, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines project vehicle sales to reach a record high of 350,000 units – especially since car companies make it so easy for millennial professionals to own a car with low down payments and easy financing. One of the reasons why people want their own car is to have more mobility since taking the bus or the MRT has become a discouraging option.

Clearly, opening up more roads is not the answer. Simply put – more roads means more cars, period! You can even build a road straight to heaven and chances are more cars will follow – since no one wants to take the road going to hell. People caught in traffic already experience hell every day. The only answer is to cut down the number of vehicles on the road by improving our public transport system. 

The way to discourage people from bringing their cars is by “congestion pricing,” a scheme implemented in major cities like London and Singapore where cars pay high fees to use certain roads during “congestion hours.” New York is also looking at congestion pricing to ease traffic on the streets. 

Even an article published last February by The Economist points to rising car ownership as a major reason why roads continue to be clogged. Interestingly, the article said. “Even with a perfect transport plan, Manila would probably have a problem. The population of the entire capital area rose from 18m to 23m between 2000 and 2010.”

In any case, the government has to come out with efficient transport systems to convince people – event the rich ones – to leave their cars at home. Right now, the P2P (point-to-point) bus service from Alabang to Makati (and vice versa) launched by the DOTC last April seems to be successful, with more and more passengers from Alabang (and even Cavite) taking the air-conditioned buses that leave every 30 minutes at designated pickup points in Alabang Town Center and Greenbelt 1 in Makati. The P2P experiment started in Quezon City and more routes will be added now that more car owners are shifting to the air-conditioned bus service, our sources at the DOTC said.

Many also laud the launch of the Ateneo shuttle service program by the MMDA and the Ateneo – aimed at reducing the number of vehicles plying the perennially gridlocked Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City. While the initial run only had a few students taking the buses (with pickup points in Temple Drive, SM Marikina, UP Ayala Techno Hub), many are confident the project will pick up steam and help decongest Katipunan since the feedback has been positive, with students saying it only took them 20 minutes to get to school instead of the usual hour-and-a-half spent idling on the road due to traffic.

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