What we need is traffic management

There were those who applauded when cops were pulled out of traffic duty, ostensibly to stop mulcting. After all, one of the symbols of the corrupt cop is the one collecting tong or grease money from drivers of jeepneys, buses and even tricycles. Even officials of the Metro Manila Development Authority, however, expressed misgivings about the capability of MMDA traffic enforcers to handle the chaotic traffic in the nation's capital.

It turned out that there is basis for the misgivings. The MMDA's traffic aides are themselves now being accused of mulcting. And they simply aren't up to the job. In many streets of Metro Manila, traffic signs are blithely ignored. Buses and jeepneys turn major thoroughfares into terminals, with little interference from traffic aides nearby. Even on major roads, commuters board or get off public utility vehicles wherever they please, refusing to walk a few meters to designated terminals. Other street signs are ignored, especially prohibitions against U-turns and left turns.

Now the Philippine National Police is making a 180-degree turn and wants to replace the traffic aides with cops. Did the mulcting cops get rehabilitated overnight? Did PNP officials get stuck in too many traffic jams? The more plausible reason is that this proposal is yet another offshoot of the rift between the heads of the PNP and the MMDA. This rift is not going to help improve traffic at all in Metro Manila.

For all the corruption associated with cops and the incompetence associated with traffic aides, both are needed in the chaotic streets of Metro Manila. Traffic lights in the nation's capital have a disturbing tendency of conking out during rush hour. Even when traffic lights are working, motorists often ignore the lights when traffic becomes unusually heavy. With such unreliable traffic lights, we're stuck with human traffic enforcers.

We need both the cops and MMDA traffic aides out there. But even more important, we need people who are trained in traffic management. Many gridlocks in Metro Manila can be avoided with just a bit of manage-ment. Traffic enforcers can't function simply as human versions of stop-and-go traffic lights. There is such a thing as management -- a bigger view of the causes of traffic jams in a certain area, and the proper responses to these problems. Instead of fighting, officials of the PNP and MMDA should put their heads together for effective traffic management.