JAMES DEAKIN - How do you solve a problem like Manila?

[ghosthunter]

How do you solve a problem like Manila?
COUNTER FLOW By James Deakin (The Philippine Star) | Updated July 24, 2013 - 12:00am

Many have tried, all have fallen short. But before we gang up on the MMDA and their ridiculous proposal to ban vehicles two days a week, let me just say that I believe that there’s no one single solution, nor a single agency, that can make any more than a parking lot dent on the traffic situation in Metro Manila, which is why I feel the President needs to declare martial law on our roads. Yes, as in military rule. Ridiculous as that may sound, allow me the next 900 words or so to explain.

As it is now, you could put Chuck Norris in charge of the MMDA, but if he has to kiss every mayor’s ass rather than kick them, he will end up as just another punch line of a very stale joke that is the MMDA. But if the President appointed one tough nut in there with absolute power and the sole mission of doubling the average moving speed of Metro Manila within six months, I’m willing to bet a year’s salary that it can and will be done.

Because as complicated as everyone like to paint it out to be, it really isn’t once you remove the politics. Even the average 12-year old knows what needs to be done to solve traffic. The problem is that nobody has the balls or the backing to enforce it. Case in point, those *#$!%* buses. They are the root of all evil on our roads. Because aside from the havoc they create, there is no way any agency, no matter how tough they are, who can enforce rules and expect us to conform when we see these buses getting away with murder.

It’s the elephant in the room dressed in in drag and playing the banjo. And everyone is just too damn scared to deal with it because the franchises are notoriously owned by powerful people who expect us to solve the problem around them—which is as ridiculous as telling a boxer he has to win the fight without hitting his opponent. With martial law, you could revoke all franchises immediately, impound them indefinitely or re-assign them to provincial areas, and have a state run service like every other functional country in the world. End of discussion.

Then we tackle the jeeps and tricycles. If we cannot replace them with anything right now, at least make sure they are replaced with E-trikes and E-jeeps that are running on clean energy.

Now, with the buses out of the way, or at least run by the state in manageable and roadworthy numbers, we need to decongest Manila. This can only be done by creating more jobs, opportunities and development both in the North and the South and taking a zero-tolerance approach to informal settlers. As in Zero. And that does not mean paying them P20,000 to relocate, either.
Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1

It will hurt at first, sure, but so does every cure. Sounds harsh, but if you allow just one squatter, it is back to buses analogy. You will never get cooperation from the rest. Try giving big companies bigger incentives to develop in new areas and increase the cost of developing in congested areas within the already overdeveloped portions of Metro Manila. In other words, no more malls and condos please. We have enough already. It is time to spread out.

Because if the reports are to be believed and 30 percent of Metro Manila is occupied by informal settlers, by removing them, we would have decongested the city by a third, unclogged the waterways which lead to flooding, reduced the pressure on the public transportation system, and given ourselves some breathing room.

Now it is time to repair our roads, build new ones, and dramatically improve our public transportation system. This is where the private motorist needs to cooperate. Instead of our complicated unified vehicle volume reducing scheme, which is anything but unified, why not introduce a congestion charge for built up areas or peak times to discourage people from making unnecessary trips. The extra revenue gained from this could subsidize public transport and build new mass transit systems.

I know, I know, you’re probably thinking that the money would never go back into infrastructure and just get lost in corruption. Fair enough. But what about if we borrowed the money needed from the World Bank or ADB or another government and used this business model as a guarantee to service the loan?

The World Bank, or whoever it is who would like to make a little money, could be given direct access to the extra revenue, bypassing the need for it to go through the hands of government officials, and pour it all into new infrastructure. It’s no different to a toll road scheme, although we would be charging for the privilege of using existing roads at peak times to fund new ones, as well as mass transit systems. Sort of like paying it forward.

Some suggested we tax the cars higher. I disagree. Taxing the cars higher would only make it inaccessible to more people and hurt an industry that is growing and provides much needed jobs. If anything, I say we reduce the tax on cars so that more people can afford them, but charge extra for the privilege of using it.

Think of it like the Candy Crush scheme. Or any of these other addicting games on your phones and tablets. The app is free. But they charge you for extra lives. Now you can get by on the free version, of course, but if you just can’t wait, you swipe your card and pay for the convenience. You decide how important it is to have that life now. If you’re desperate, you can buy them. If not, you can ask a friend for one or wait for a free one.

It is no different to driving. Make the car affordable so more people can have one; if you really need to use it in peak time, whether for convenience or necessity, you pay extra for congestion charges. If not, you carpool with a friend, or just wait until off-peak to go into town.

Everyone seems to grasp the concept with hotel rooms, flights and other services that give incentives to travel off-peak; why not cars? Big companies, government agencies and even schools could also help out by offering staggered work hours to help reduce the mad rush and give us all a bigger window to work with. It’s not rocket science.

Now I can imagine certain people mocking these suggestions and saying I’m being too simplistic. To them I say, the best solutions usually are. Besides which, we have tried their highly convoluted solutions many times before.

How’s that working out for you?

SOURCE: How do you solve a problem like Manila? | Motoring, Business Features, The Philippine Star | philstar.com

[cast_no_shadow]

Nothing new and glaring sa mga suggestion ni Mr Deakin obviously everything he said can't be done overnight.

but one thing i agree is deputizing a person, given an absolute power to mandate control traffic / schemes.

Kudos to Isko Moreno inuumpisahan na niya within manila. Still im hoping for one person that can control the whole GMA.

[xninjax]

Decongest Manila not just of cars but people.

[CVT]

Decongest Manila not just of cars but people.

That is what he was precisely saying bro.,- remove the squatters,- less 30% of the people in Metro Manila.

Then, create more jobs and opportunities North and South of the Metro.... No more malls and condos.... Spread out....

20.2K:flush:

[ghosthunter]

I have previously talked to Mr Tolentino of the MMDA and his greatest frustration is getting proper cooperation from the city mayors to implement the plans from the MMDA.

[vinj]

Is the title of article sung to the tune in the Sound of Music soundtrack?

I have previously talked to Mr Tolentino of the MMDA and his greatest frustration is getting proper cooperation from the city mayors to implement the plans from the MMDA.

Which was likewise the problem of BF before.

However, on top of the lack of cooperation from the mayors, his ideas so far have not received overwhelming public support either.

[yebo]

panahon na para mag invest ang DPWh sa tunnel boring machines (TBM).


mag tunnel sa ilalim ng EDSA

mag tunnel sa ilalim ng ESPANA

mag tunnel sa ilalim ng QUIRINO Hiway

mag tunnel sa ilalim ng Rizal Ave.


gayahin ang smart tunnel design ng Malaysia.

pag good weather, daanan ng mga vehicles, pag meron bagyo, daan ng storm waters para mabilis mawala ang baha sa Metro Manila.


(approximately $514m). The project was commissioned by the Government of Malaysia. The tunnel handles 30,000 cars per day and has been used 44 times to divert floodwater.

9.7km stormwater bypass tunnel, with a 4km dual-deck motorway within the stormwater tunnel.



SMART (Stormwater Management And Road Tunnel), Kuala Lumpur - Road Traffic Technology

Kuala lumpur is above sea level, manila on the other hand is below sea level. That is why there are flood control gates and pumping stations. So you will bore a tunnel under a road that is already below sea level? And incompetent people to manage those tunnels? I see thousands of dead people drowned in their cars the first time it rains.

The better solution is elevated highways. 2, 3 and even 4 level highways. Kalaban lang dyan yung mga residents ng exclusive subdivisions on both sides of edsa and C5.

Is-isa na sinusunog mga squater colonies. Sana naman pag nasunog na e huwag na hayaan makabalik.

Speaking of martial law, let's make it illegal for people living in the north of MM to work in the south, illegal for people who live in the south to work in the north, and illegal for people who live in the east to work in the west. They should live where they work or work where they live!

[Manilablock]

Kuala lumpur is above sea level, manila on the other hand is below sea level. That is why there are flood control gates and pumping stations. So you will bore a tunnel under a road that is already below sea level? And incompetent people to manage those tunnels? I see thousands of dead people drowned in their cars the first time it rains.

The better solution is elevated highways. 2, 3 and even 4 level highways. Kalaban lang dyan yung mga residents ng exclusive subdivisions on both sides of edsa and C5.

Is-isa na sinusunog mga squater colonies. Sana naman pag nasunog na e huwag na hayaan makabalik.

Speaking of martial law, let's make it illegal for people living in the north of MM to work in the south, illegal for people who live in the south to work in the north, and illegal for people who live in the east to work in the west. They should live where they work or work where they live!

And incompetent people to manage those tunnels? - incompetent from your point of view, but remember if the car driver beside you is incompetent, you should pray and give thanks to God that you have arrived to your destination without an accident.


I see thousands of dead people drowned in their cars the first time it rains - me kasabihan nga tayo, meron tulo ang bubong pag umuulan lang, para wag ka malunod pag meron ng tubig ang tunnel wag ka na papasok.


The better solution is elevated highways. 2, 3 and even 4 level highways -construction of a elevated highway will add congestion on the road it will put upon. kung ung maliit natin kalsada ay puno na nga ng mga vehicles kaya matraffic, just imagine dagdagan mo pa ng construction crew. Saka ang elevated highway will not help divert the floodwaters, it just keep your car dry while the people/houses/vehicles below are soaked in floodwater.


They should live where they work or work where they live - people who travel with their vehicles to work uses the road for 2-3 hours only, most of the time their vehicles are parked.


Most of our traffic problem is caused by public transport not managed properly, imagine a PUV travelling at 10kph and blocks the vehicle behind him to ensure no other PUV will collect the potential passengers.


1. Solution is to discipline the PUV drivers.
2. Divert the traffic without adding loads on existing road network.

[yebo]

Kaya naman natin itaas ang salary ng mga gov employees, para hindi na sila ma temp magnakaw.

kung tutuusin mas makakatipid pa nga tayo, kasi they will work more efficient kung manghihinayang sila na matangal sa pwesto.

currently sa sistema ng gov natin ung mga magnanakaw sinasagad sagad ung pagnanakaw para kahit matangal sa pwesto madami ng naipon.

Kaso hindi sila takot matangal sa pwesto kasi may civil service law. I-repeal muna yang civil service law na yan para mawalan sila ng security of tenure in government. At dapat indefinite suspension without pay pag may kaso ng graft. And no back pay either!

[yebo]

And incompetent people to manage those tunnels? - incompetent from your point of view, but remember if the car driver beside you is incompetent, you should pray and give thanks to God that you have arrived to your destination without an accident.


I see thousands of dead people drowned in their cars the first time it rains - me kasabihan nga tayo, meron tulo ang bubong pag umuulan lang, para wag ka malunod pag meron ng tubig ang tunnel wag ka na papasok.


The better solution is elevated highways. 2, 3 and even 4 level highways -construction of a elevated highway will add congestion on the road it will put upon. kung ung maliit natin kalsada ay puno na nga ng mga vehicles kaya matraffic, just imagine dagdagan mo pa ng construction crew. Saka ang elevated highway will not help divert the floodwaters, it just keep your car dry while the people/houses/vehicles below are soaked in floodwater.


They should live where they work or work where they live - people who travel with their vehicles to work uses the road for 2-3 hours only, most of the time their vehicles are parked.


Most of our traffic problem is caused by public transport not managed properly, imagine a PUV travelling at 10kph and blocks the vehicle behind him to ensure no other PUV will collect the potential passengers.


1. Solution is to discipline the PUV drivers.
2. Divert the traffic without adding loads on existing road network.

when i said incompetent people to manage, i meant INCOMPETENT PEOPLE TO MANAGE. I DID NOT MEAN DRIVERS, I MEANT THE PEOPLE MANAGING NG SYSTEM OF TUNNELS. malinaw naman ang post ko e, pakibasa ulit please.

For the elevated hiway system, yes congested when the construction is ongoing. Pero after hindi na. Think skyway.

As for your tunnels, if purely for use as drainage ok yan. Imagine the whole of espana blvd with a giant drainage tunnel below it. A super estero where squaters will not be able to build houses on! Pero as a part-time road network, it will be a disaster waiting to happen. Flash floods do happen, and it takes many minutes to vacate a tunnel of cars. Sa malaysia ok yun, they have competent weather prediction and competent traffic managers.

They should live where they work or work where they live does not apply to people with cars only. It should be everyone, including the jeepney and bus riders. If there are no people needing to ride the jeepney or bus then those jeepneys and buses will die a natural death.

Opinions lang naman ito. Pasensya na kung salungat sa opinions mo.