Traffic in Metro Manila

According to a "Global Driver Satisfaction" survey conducted by the navigation app Waze in 2015, Metro Manila had the "worst traffic on Southeast Asia".

Emerson Carlos, MMDA assistant general manager for operation has mentioned that in 2015, motor vehicle registrations in Metro Manila peaked at around 2.5 million.

The Duterte administration has promised that the coming years will be the, "golden age of infrastructure",[2] with a record $168 billion to be spent on 5,000 projects across the nation”.

In Metro Manila, a variety of road-based public transport, such as tricycles, taxis, buses, and jeepneys which are all privately owned "account for more than 50% of daily commuting trips, incur no subsidy, and with low productivity.”[3] Meanwhile, "car travel accounts for 30% of person-km, but constitutes 72% of the road traffic in terms of PCU-km.”[3] The high number of vehicles on the road, which could be attributed to the high population, is one of the contributors to traffic congestion.

The guide was made to help NEDA deliberate on the contents of a short-term (2014 - 2016) and a medium term (2017 - 2022) transport investment program (TRIP).

Same study has also found that during their research period, the Metro Manila traffic was costing the city and the people Php 2.4 billion per day in the year 2012.

[8] According to Euromonitor's Consumer Lifestyles in the Philippines (2015), young professionals in the Metro tend to buy small cars such as Toyota Wigo, Mitsubishi Mirage, and Honda Jazz that adds to road congestion.

[9] Referring back to the study that dubs EDSA as the main passageway of the Greater Manila area, the city accounts for 35.7% of the Philippines’ economic output, 18% of its population and 28% of its motor vehicles.

The main modes of public transport in the Philippines are jeepneys, buses, taxis, trains and tricycles, all of which are readily available in Metro Manila.

This is why most Filipinos still find travelling via public transport inconvenient due to the high vehicle density and the unavoidable traffic congestion, according to Euromonitor's Consumer Lifestyles in the Philippines (2015).

[9] According to Metro Manila Accident Reporting and Analysis System (MMARAS) data from 2008 to 2011 and a study of the severity of road crashes in Metro Manila, accidents that involved heavy and multiple vehicles, and an elderly pedestrian (60 years old and above), as well as those that occurred during the evening (7 pm to midnight) and late at night (1 am to 5 am) had significantly higher odds of resulting in a fatal outcome.

But when the crash involves a female pedestrian and when the road surface is wet the odds of a fatal outcome are lower.

It was also found that fatal crashes involving pedestrian happen close to different types of transit stations.

The main social effects that occur due to the congestion of vehicles are namely: wasting of time (non-productivity; opportunity cost), delays, frustrated drivers/motorists/passengers, encouraging road rage.

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) noted that dirty air threatens the lives of 12 million residents.

[14] Also, based on data gathered from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Metro Manila's air quality situation has worsened in terms of total suspended particulates.

[13] There have been efforts to lessen the number of vehicles on the road and the production of fuel-efficient green cars with reduced emissions, but air pollution remains to be a problem.

The Guardian said that “despite all the promises of green growth and reduced emissions, traditional car sales are accelerating, while efforts to shift towards ‘greener’ hybrid and electric vehicles are stuck in neutral, particularly in the place where it matters most.” [12] In August of 2016, The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has moved towards a more integrated approach to managing traffic on Metro Manila’s roads.

The department divided the metropolis into 10 traffic sectors so as to be able to share assets among other government agencies involved in traffic management such as the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), the highway Patrol Group of the Philippine National Police (HPG-PNP), the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and the Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB).

During the 1990s, there were many road and railway infrastructure projects being built throughout Metro Manila; in order to address the resulting increase in congestion, the MMDA issued Regulation No.

95-001 or the “Odd-Even Scheme.” The scheme banned private vehicles with less than three passengers from passing restricted roads during AM and PM peak periods on particular days.

Vehicles in use for public transportation, emergencies, police and military, school buses, diplomatic matters and official media were exempted from this regulation.

This scheme applied to public utility vehicles such as taxis, buses, public utility jeepneys, etc., which are banned from all streets of Metro Manila on particular days of the week from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm based on the plate number ending of each vehicle, as follows: 1 and 2 on Mondays, 3 and 4 on Tuesdays, 5 and 6 on 7 Wednesdays, 7 and 8 on Thursdays, 9 and 0 on Fridays.

This program aimed to regulate the operation of certain motor vehicles on all national, city and municipal roads in Metropolitan Manila.

In 2003, the UVVRP was modified to allow for a window time between 10:00 am and 3:00 pm, which was considered to be the off-peak period within the day when restricted vehicles could travel along the specified roads.

[18] Today, the provision of the UVVRP are as follows: vehicles cannot drive around Metro Manila based on the last digit of the license plate.

Essentially, the scheme resulted in the closing of many road intersections as well as the suspension of traffic signal operations in order to allow for the system of median openings.

It delivers real-time traffic updates in specific roads and highways by relying on CCTVs to assess the congestion in particular areas.