Manila Traffic

[Benington]

Expectations of what the new government can achieve are being raised to Everest levels!

http://news.abs-cbn.com/nation/06/21/16/crime-buster-president-elect-adds-traffic-jams

I am intrigued by the idea of opening gated subdivisions to through traffic and I can think of one or two areas of the Metro where that would be useful. But subdivisions with wide enough roads to take all the diverted traffic are usually those with expensive properties and their occupants would be up in arms if their convenience, peace and quiet and security was going to be compromised.

Still, traffic reduction and flow improvement schemes are going to be quicker to take effect than building new Skyways and railways, so what about other ideas which might have a chance of working in the Philippine environment  eg the coding scheme to be applied more generally and/or over 2 days a week?

 

[JJReyes]

There is a simple solution to Metro Manila's traffic problem. Major thoroughfares like EDSA become parking lots for buses and jeepneys waiting for passengers. The reason is their drivers and conductors are on a boundary system. They need to wait until the vehicle is filled before proceeding to make money. The choke points are the major intersections like Cubao. This is the main cause for traffic jams. In other countries, public transportation drivers are employees. The buses keep moving resulting in traffic flow.

The problem is the drivers, conductors and their vehicle owners will protest. So it is not possible to do the obvious.

BTW - you have to get rid of the jeepneys. They are inefficient in carrying capacity for a large metropolitan area.

The subdivisions allow non-resident vehicles to pass if they first purchase a decal costing several thousand pesos per year.  

[mogo51]

The Jeepney is a real problem not only causing traffic congestion, but blocking roads as you say. There is also the issue of CM they belch out in huge amounts. They do not suffer from over servicing. But I wonder what the option is, they do provide cost effective transport for the masses. If they went, there would be more buses and I think that would on exasperate the problem.

[scott h]

1 hour ago, JJReyes said:

The subdivisions allow non-resident vehicles to pass if they first purchase a decal costing several thousand pesos per year.  

1500 pesos a year to pass through BF Homes, Paranaque, South Metro Manila.

 

1 hour ago, JJReyes said:

The choke points are the major intersections like Cubao.

You are right JR. But if you look closely, most of these areas have signs posted "No Loading/Un Loading".

So IMO, even though the points you bring up are very, very valid, I believe it lies in enforcement of existing traffic laws. To add to the Jeepneys a good example is clogging intersections. A yellow light does not mean wait or proceed with caution, here it means get into the middle of the intersection and block it when the opposite flow turns green. With enforcers standing right there. Just one big accordion effect.

Poor infrastructure, to many cars, poorly planned road maintenance, all these add to the problem. But in my view, if traffic law enforcement was stressed, I really believe we would see a 20% reduction in problems.

[chris49]

The MRT/LRT systems could have been expended and further updated years ago and still could be. Using Bangkok as a model where there have multiple lines serving even the airport.

Any trip to NIA airport is a total nightmare, having people miss flights due to major delays. And having to leave ridiculously early ahead of time.

The MRT was supposed to go to Fairview in 2014, but nothing has happened. Ditto links to Alabang Town Centre, which in both cases would alleviate some of the problem.

Jeepney's are a hazard and a major contributor to pollution. But they are absolutely necessary as the major form of cheap commuting. Plenty of them should be pulled off the road, that's another thing.

Another factor. This Filipino pride thing, which has people insisting to drive as sole passenger in their own vehicle, when the Fx system would serve them better.

[JJReyes]

I can't remember the name of the Latin America city that had a huge traffic problem similar to Metro Manila. The traffic solution was by their visionary new mayor.

The mayor was offered large international development loans to build more concrete roads. He felt this would only encourage affluent residents to buy more cars. His solution was to relegate privately owned vehicles to a single lane in main boulevards, separated from the rest by concrete barricades. The remaining lanes were for city buses only. At each loading zone was a fenced in platform. You purchased a ticket beforehand. When a bus arrived, new passengers entered from the front door and other passengers getting off would exit from the rear. The average time for the bus at the loading zone was less than 20 seconds. 

The mayor also observed that private car owners would have a driver going around in circles while they attend a meeting or luncheon. His simple solution was to build more garages using international development loans. If the car had a driver, the police placed a tag on the windshield as the passenger got off the vehicle. Two circles and they got a ticket. The cars had to be off the road in a garage. It took two or three years, but the city no longer has a traffic problem. The private car owners are pissed by the heavily congested single lane allowed for them. So they started taking the bus.

Here is an interesting item. Toyota Philippines alone manufactures and sells 25,000 vehicles a month. How many new roads (not repaving the existing ones) are constructed during the same time period? 

 

[scott h]

37 minutes ago, JJReyes said:

offered large international development loans

Here also there has been talk about several international grants for infrastructure improvements. The hope is that if the new president is given "state of emergency" powers that the executive branch will be able to slice through a lot of the red tape during the bidding process. The most promising thing about these powers is the ability to ignore the infamous "TRO" (temporary restraining orders) that are invariably by loosing bidders and political opponents.  

A good thing? who knows, time will tell.

[Gerald Glatt]

I thought I read that all jeepneys and trike had to be electric by 2010....

 

Think of it extension cords everywhere...and the brownouts.

[Benington]

Some useful ideas put forward here, though many of them require new implementation schemes and some require major construction.

I just wondered if relaunching the vehicle coding scheme is the answer, but nobody picked up on that.

If Manila's traffic is in a crisis and holding back the economy then surely, crisis measures are needed, and quickly? At present the coding is one day a week and varies according to where you are in the Metro. 

What about bringing back the idea of two days a week? I do remember that was mooted and didn't get anywhere last year - but we are now in a crisis!

Then the scheme coverage needs to be made uniform. At present people can find alternative routes. It's confusing. How many motorists know the precise roads and whether there is a window  - especially outside their city? In Las Pinas  traffic enforcers stand at two places on the city boundaries, with Muntinlupa and Paranaque, routinely catching unsuspecting motorists who in the latter case are not even intending to enter Las Pinas "proper"! 

There could be a uniform "window" time, even in Makati, as the scheme is on two days with more uniform coverage across the Metro.

I know the objection to the two days a week expansion is that some people will just buy another car. But many will be deterred by the extra costs involved, and where do you park it? Certainly the number of extra cars purchased will be significantly less than when the coding scheme was first introduced.

I don't know about the politics of this, but if the new government is coming into office with radical programs in many areas, this could be just one more which politicians and the public in general might be willing to accept?

 

[scott h]

26 minutes ago, Benington said:

What about bringing back the idea of two days a week?

Benington, sorry brother, but I am a law and order type. Here is the problem with "vehicle coding"

Currently due to the chronic lack of license plates you will routinely see placards that say "lost plate" or Registered no plate available". So routinely if a car is coded the driver just removes his plate (if he ever bothered to put it on) and drive on his coded day.

My brother in law has yet to receive his plate after 8 or 9 months now. I have asked him time and again if he has ever been stopped and asked for his registration. Once he stops laughing, he wipes his eyes and says "I thought you don't drink ".

As I said above there is no sense bringing in new laws until the ones that are on the books are enforced.

Just imagine the improvement if loading and unloading zones where enforce. Street venders could not set up in traffic lanes, Vulcanizing shops did not use a lane of traffic for tire changing. Those folks who live in small houses, or have no money didn't set up funeral viewing areas in traffic lanes or set up karaoke machines.

It is not a fix all by any means, but if traffic was improved by say 10-20% just by enforcing existing laws. Then the BIG problems would not seem so insurmountable.