Traffic jams: Why we should care

For most of us, we think about road congestion merely as an everyday event or seemingly a "meeting of the minds" of the mob rushing towards the same road you are going at about the same time. To the minds of our urban planners, it is a problem of the increasing volume of vehicles and that they need to widen or open new roads to solve it. But more than just the synchrony of minds or the reality that more and more people can afford to buy cars these days, there are other underlying considerations that we must seriously mull over — and that is the impact of traffic on the economy.

If we only quantify its impact, may be our LGUs would be more conscious and serious about installing more traffic lights, and to deploying more traffic cops — training them not only on enforcing traffic rules, but also instilling in them that sense of urgency and participation in reducing the economic losses of road users or motorists.  Quantifying the economic impact of traffic should also be made aware to road builders or repairers for them to take into consideration not only the inconvenience brought about by the road projects they undertake, but also the opportunity costs that comes as a consequence of any road project to people and businesses.  This way they can program and map their construction works with minimum impact to the traffic situation.

And if we are to put as an example the traffic congestion we currently have in Barangay Basak, Lapu- Lapu, you spend like one good hour from Tamiya to Mactan Doctors which is just only three and a half kilometers long. While it's hard to exactly quantify in money terms the negative impact of the traffic situation in that area, but we can accurately identify the type of losses we can get out of it.

The most obtrusive impact that traffic can wreck to an economy is losses in man-hours.

Say if you spend an hour on the road doing nothing because of traffic, then you're already wasting an x amount of money. And what if  Bill Gates, who earns like US$250 per second and happens to hit the road in Basak to get him to Plantation Bay, imagine the amount of money that's blown away from him because of traffic!  But let's just suppose that there are about a thousand minimum wage earners stuck in the same road and in the same traffic condition, effectively, about P40,000 is lost in an hour due to traffic alone!

It is not only losses in man-hours, but also fuel. How many liters of fuel are wasted every minute due to traffic? What about other impact such as the following which I culled from Wikipedia:

Inability to forecast travel time accurately, leading to drivers allocating more time to travel "just in case," and less time on productive activities.

Wasted fuel increasing air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions owing to increased idling, acceleration and braking.

Wear and tear on vehicles as a result of idling in traffic and frequent acceleration and braking, leading to more frequent repairs and replacements.

Stressed and frustrated motorists, encouraging road rage and reduced health of motorists.

Emergencies: Blocked traffic may interfere with the passage of emergency vehicles traveling to their destinations where they are urgently needed.

Spillover effect from congested main arteries to secondary roads and side streets as alternative routes are attempted ('rat running'), which may affect neighborhood amenity and real estate prices.

Higher chance of collisions due to tight spacing and constant stopping-and-going.

If you want to be really pissed off  by traffic or want to know its meaning, you can test your patience by trying the road in Basak, Lapu-Lapu. It's one helluva of ride, er, road they got there. There are not enough traffic people in the area and the ongoing road construction there seems to be so snail-paced. It's disappointing and frustrating to tourists and people doing business in the area.

Traffic has serious economic and even health repercussions, which should not to be taken lightly or ordinarily. LGUs, road builders, motorists and pedestrians need to be aware not only of its impact but also their role to play in reducing that impact in their area. LGUs need to revisit every now and then their traffic management plans as well as to coordinate with road builders to map alternative routes or traffic schemes to reduce or if not retain the normal traffic conditions during road expansion or repairs. Pedestrians, motorists, car owners need to play their part as well by observing traffic rules and by reducing as much as possible their presence in the area by carpooling or commuting instead of taking the car.              

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