Manila to be uninhabitable in 4 years if traffic chaos not resolved

[Luap]

Ayos 'to... :jump2::rofl::jump2::rofl:
http://www.topgear.com.ph/news/motor...ef=home_feed_1

Magagaling talaga na komedyante lahat ng cabinet ni Pnot. May schedule na ba kung kelan magpapa sagasa sa tren si Pnot? Kahit sa PPV pa ipalabas to, manonood ako.

[donbuggy]

The start of the construction of Skyway P3 last Feb 2015 is the primary cause for the traffic situation now. It's a 3-year project, so we still need to be patient for another 2 years (give or take).

"It gets worse before it gets better." I just hope this rings true come 2018.

It won't get better. The Skyway is a flawed concept. Introducting new traffic streams into Makati adds to the congestion. Big mistake.

[Balikpinoy]

It won't get better. The Skyway is a flawed concept. Introducting new traffic streams into Makati adds to the congestion. Big mistake.

It will for me as I will be able to avoid Edsa when traveling from Laguna to Tarlac.

[ClaNker]

Highly congested area with no room to expand.

Goodluck sa poncio pilatong aayos sa problema nyo dyan sa imperial manila.

[b_9904]

Highly congested area with no room to expand.

Goodluck sa poncio pilatong aayos sa problema nyo dyan sa imperial manila.

Expropriation. cool power

[noitimed]

Roxas solution to metro manila traffic when interviewed by GMA7 last sunday: 1. the ongoing NLEX-SLEX link 2. limit bus in EDSA.

I dont agree with the first solution, because I think cars will just catch up with the road construction. How many times have we read that traffic will get better after a road/flyover construction only to experience much horrible traffic after the road project is finished. I agree with # 2 though. Even during sundays, cubao area experiences heavy traffic from time to time because of the provincial buses in cubao. I hope the next president relocate the provincial bus terminal in cubao to a better place.

I think Roxas failed to really answer the issue. For me the best and simplest solution is to improved our public transportation. I dont know if Roxas knew that. Hopefully, he loses if that is not one of his solution.

[jut703]

Roxas solution to metro manila traffic when interviewed by GMA7 last sunday: 1. the ongoing NLEX-SLEX link 2. limit bus in EDSA.

I dont agree with the first solution, because I think cars will just catch up with the road construction. How many times have we read that traffic will get better after a road/flyover construction only to experience much horrible traffic after the road project is finished. I agree with # 2 though. Even during sundays, cubao area experiences heavy traffic from time to time because of the provincial buses in cubao. I hope the next president relocate the provincial bus terminal in cubao to a better place.

I think Roxas failed to really answer the issue. For me the best and simplest solution is to improved our public transportation. I dont know if Roxas knew that. Hopefully, he loses if that is not one of his solution.

Don't know if you've taken the time to research and watch the interviews, but Roxas has laid out a rather sensible plan for solving the metro manila traffic conundrum.

On trains- expansion through PPPs is a primary objective, as well as trying to solve the age-old predicament of the disadvantageous contract (15% guaranteed return wtf?) with the MRT owners. A buyout will be difficult but necessary, if you want the MRT to be run properly.

On buses - a single operator (could be state-run) should take over the hundreds of franchisers currently plying our roads. However, getting rid of all these franchises will be difficult because of the timing of franchise expiries, as well as the lobbying power of these politically-connected businessmen.

On roads - several NLEX-SLEX connectors are already on the PPP pipeline, but obviously to expect them to be finished in one presidential term is too much. Eventually, car sales will still overtake the additional capacity of the roads being built, and the development of regional business hotspots is the long-term target (again, it will take decades for that shift to materialize).


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[ClaNker]

Expropriation. cool power

Ah build more roads while not paying attention to the population density. Di mo pa natatapos magawa yang daan eh san damukal na ang na dagdag na sasakyan sa daan.

Alam mo naman ang mga bagong graduate sa probinsya eh dyan nakikipag sapalaran sa Manila. Siksikan na lang ang mga tao dyan year after year.

[Balikpinoy]

Roxas solution to metro manila traffic when interviewed by GMA7 last sunday: 1. the ongoing NLEX-SLEX link 2. limit bus in EDSA.

I dont agree with the first solution, because I think cars will just catch up with the road construction. How many times have we read that traffic will get better after a road/flyover construction only to experience much horrible traffic after the road project is finished. I agree with # 2 though. Even during sundays, cubao area experiences heavy traffic from time to time because of the provincial buses in cubao. I hope the next president relocate the provincial bus terminal in cubao to a better place.

I think Roxas failed to really answer the issue. For me the best and simplest solution is to improved our public transportation. I dont know if Roxas knew that. Hopefully, he loses if that is not one of his solution.

It's a long read but this explains the mess that is MRT.
On a clear day you can see the MRT | The Society of Honor by Joe America

[jut703]

It's a long read but this explains the mess that is MRT.
On a clear day you can see the MRT | The Society of Honor by Joe America

Great article, thanks for the link. We need more resources like this, as opposed to useless forumers who post nothing but blind fanaticism for their presidential bet without providing any clear details on how their messianic candidate can solve the systematic problems of the country.

This is a particularly interesting bit:

These upgrading works have either been completed in 2015 or are work-in-progress. Overhaul of existing trains will be completed by 2017. Life for commuters will be tolerable within this year. So let’s give DOTC a chance. It will be a sad commentary on Filipino culture if a non-LP candidate wins the 2016 election just in time to take credit for all the work that has been done.

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[niky]

Great article, thanks for the link. We need more resources like this, as opposed to useless forumers who post nothing but blind fanaticism for their presidential bet without providing any clear details on how their messianic candidate can solve the systematic problems of the country.

That is some super-dense stuff!

Have not read the whole thing... but interesting that it partially ties into the Aquino and Arroyo administrations not wanting to enter into the same kind of "deal-with-the-devil" agreements so common under FVR. Some would say the current admin is overly cautious... but then, reform doesn't happen overnight, right?

[anonemus]



Carmageddon

Posted on Monday Feb 15th at 5:00am

DEMAND AND SUPPLY By Boo Chanco

It was reported last week that local car and truck sales are up 27.6 percent in January. Data from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) show January auto sales increased 27.6 percent year-on-year to 23,808 units.

There was strong take-up across all vehicle categories. Passenger car sales rose 20 percent to 8,632 units, while commercial vehicles grew 32 percent to 15,176 units. Notably, CAMPI and TMA reported a 188 percent increase in heavy-duty trucks and buses segments used for construction in the metropolis.

The industry is aiming for vehicle sales of 350,000 units (+21.3 percent) by end-2016 from 288,609 last year. Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) retained market leadership with 39.2 percent share, while Mitsubishi Motor Philippines (MMP) came in at 20.4 percent. TMP is looking at a 10 percent growth car sales this year while MMP is targeting a 25 percent increase to 67,800 units.

I don’t know about you, but I am getting visions of even worse traffic jams with this strong sales performance of the local car industry. I don’t think government can roll out any mitigation measure soon enough to make our lives on the road bearable.

For one thing, the obvious solution is a vastly improved mass transit system and that takes a lot of time to put in place. The private sector led LRT 1 should be on its way soon with the consortium announcing definite plans to improve the ride experience.

But I am sure DOTC is not up to the challenge, beyond band aid approaches like the P2P bus services. Then again, we should be grateful for these small gestures even if these are too little to respond effectively to our problem and rolled out too late.

We have been raising the alarm bells on our increasingly dysfunctional mass transit system, notably MRT 3, to no avail. The leadership minimized the problem or maybe was just too inept to do anything useful.

P-Noy and Mar Roxas think the traffic jams are visible indicators of prosperity, and they said so. The DOTC Secretary, on the other hand, said traffic jams are not fatal.

Indeed, our Great Leader and aspiring Great Leader seem to think we owe them a debt of gratitude for supposedly boosting our economy to the point of standstill on EDSA and C5. It now takes at least a couple of hours to move from one business center to another.

Only a good mass transit system can move people efficiently. Most civilized cities in the world have one, or at least one that is better than ours.

If we are lucky to elect a president who is determined to do something, it will still take a whole term of six years to see results. That was why I was so frantic when I pointed out to Mar that he doesn’t have all the time in the world to re-study what had been studied by JICA and other experts.

In the absence of a good mass transit system, it is difficult for government to do anything else other than the number coding scheme. But this scheme has only resulted in more car sales as those who can afford buy an extra two or three cars. In my subdivision, there are now more cars parked on the streets because residents do not have enough garage space.

Many international cities impose a congestion charge on cars going into the business districts during rush hours. But even a congestion charge requires a good alternative to be fair. Singapore and London can do it because they have a very good subway system.

Our only hope in the short to mid-term is technology. Tele-commuting could be resorted to if companies are ready to allow some of their workers to work from home via the Internet. But that requires a civilized broadband service and we suck in that area too.

The other tech solution is Uber or similar service. Uber recently announced a new service that pools passengers. That may be good for the home to office to home routine.

The only business sector happy with the situation are the condo developers. One of the bigger developers told me they are now getting good demand from office workers who want to live within a good walking distance or a short ride to their places of work. They buy a one bedroom or even a studio unit the size of a birdhouse. They go home on weekends.

We are a resilient people. When we are abused by our leaders, we adjust and adapt to the situation.

In reality, we have a problem bigger than our daily EDSA carmageddon. The problem betrays the lack of planning in Metro Manila so that long commutes from home to office or school are now standard. But how long will our patience last?

Junket

*The only ones who benefit from our transport problems are government officials. Some folks at DOTC get junkets to South Korea, Japan and China courtesy of eager suppliers.

Last week, two congressmen went on a junket to London supposedly to attend a meeting with the objective of helping us improve our transport situation. They skipped the meetings and went straight to sightseeing.

The two LP congressmen were supposed to attend a briefing from representatives of TFL, or Transport For London supposedly to learn best practices and help solve, if not minimize the worsening traffic situation in Metro Manila.

Both solons are ranking leaders of the House Committee on Metro Manila Development that also covers transport management and urban planning. Traffic is under their domain.

For background, TFL is a local government body responsible for most aspects of the transport system in greater London. Headed by the London mayor, TFL oversees the operations of tube or underground trains, buses, taxis and even river services. We probably need something like it, not DOTC.

*My source told me the two gentlemen, representing Metro Manila districts, did not attend what could have been a beneficial briefing to help find ways to solve our traffic mess. One congressman said he was not aware of such a meeting.

But if they are on official business, their official schedules should have been known even before they left Manila. Their trip must have gone through the regular protocol involving the committee secretary of the lower house, the Philippine Embassy in London and TFL. No way can they claim they were kept in the dark.*Such a shame!

What is more disgusting… the gentlemen, one of them brought his wife along, opted to join a promo London tour to visit UK’s famous tourist spots, Stonehenge and Bath on the same day the TFL briefing was held.

There is nothing wrong with sightseeing or a shopping spree. But they should have had the decency to fulfill an official obligation first because they are spending taxpayers’ money for that trip and it makes the country look bad to the hosts.*COA should disallow the expenses of the congressmen if they try to liquidate advances I am sure they took.

That’s why our transport system is so rotten. Our officials spend more time on junkets than working to alleviate the sufferings of our commuters.

*