MMDA: Traffic, flooding worsened in 2018

MANILA, Philippines — The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has admitted that traffic and flooding in the metropolis worsened in 2018 compared to the previous year.

Based on the MMDA’s own “Operational Highlights” appended in the Commission on Audit (COA)’s audit report on the agency, the average travel time in Metro Manila’s major thoroughfares last year was at 2.46 minutes per kilometer, faster by 0.01 min/km from the 2.47 mins/km target for the year, but significantly worse than the 2017 figure.

MMDA data showed that the average travel time in 2017 was 2.32 mins/km, equivalent to 139.2 seconds per one kilometer.

The comparative data showed that travel time in 2018 took 147.6 seconds per one kilometer, slower by 8.4 seconds per kilometer than in the previous year. 

This was despite the MMDA’s unchanged average response time of 15 minutes to resolve traffic obstruction along major thoroughfares and to respond to accidents.

The agency also reported that it achieved the target of 97 percent reliability of its traffic signal lights, countdown timers and closed-circuit television cameras.

The MMDA, however, fell short by 13.14 percentage points in achieving its 100 percent target to deploy traffic constables at designated major intersections and thoroughfares “at all times.”

Flooding

The average time for floodwaters in Metro Manila to subside after a heavy downpour doubled in 2018 from the previous year.

While it took an average of 18.5 minutes for flood in major thoroughfares to subside in 2017, the 2018 figures showed the floodwater subsistence time was 30 minutes, slower by 10 minutes from the MMDA’s target. 

The worse flooding situation in 2018 was not surprising as the MMDA’s own data showed that only 41.63 percent of waterways and drainage systems were declogged and desilted. No flood mitigation project was completed prior to the onset of the rainy season, the MMDA said.

The MMDA explained that its Bids and Awards Committee was newly constituted in the second quarter of 2017, thereby affecting the timeline of the implementation of various projects.