MMDA Chairman Tolentino's "brilliant" Ideas to Solve Traffic Problem in MM

[_Cathy_]

Metro Manila needs at least 3,000 kilometers of new roadways to ease its perennial traffic congestion, which according to a report of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) translates to P2.4 billion in lost income per day.

“A large urban center should allot 25 percent of its total land area for roadways. Metro Manila has only 5,037 km when it should have at least 8,000 km of roads,” said MMDA Chair Francis Tolentino, who early in his term proposed the establishment of a new national capital either in Rizal or Bulacan province.

Tolentino pointed out the road shortage plaguing the capital on Tuesday in a speech during the opening of one of the satellite stations of the Bus Management and Dispatch System (BMDS) at Coastal Mall, Parañaque City.

Through the BMDS, the MMDA seeks to regulate the number of buses plying Edsa and monitor their drivers using biometrics and finger scans. The MMDA chief said the data used by Jica in the study “came from us (MMDA).”

Tolentino stressed, however, that the Philippines was not alone in having traffic problems that result in huge economic losses. “Even Tokyo, Japan, is losing (the equivalent of) P4.3 trillion every day due to traffic congestion.”

“Where do we get 3,000 km of roads?” he said. “Until we can do that, we have to do measures to ease the traffic congestion.”

He cited the centralized bus terminal system as one of those measures, which he said could keep provincial buses out of major thoroughfares by relocating the current 85 terminals to three areas outside the capital.“There are 45 bus terminals on Edsa (alone), so once we get rid of them, motorists will begin to feel some relief,” he said.

According to a recent daily traffic count of the MMDA, private vehicles far outnumber public units on the road despite the implementation of the number coding scheme. An average of 264,067 private vehicles pass through Edsa every day, while only 15,214 city and provincial buses use the highway.

“In Shanghai, getting a license plate is more expensive than the car itself. In Brazil, the government is planning to improve its number coding scheme and bar drivers from using their vehicles on the main roads at least twice a week,” Tolentino said.

“There are so many ideas that we have not yet done in Metro Manila,” he added.

Last year, the MMDA chief wrote a book proposing that a portion of Metro Manila be relocated to nearby provinces like Rizal and Bulacan, similar to what Brazil, Pakistan and Malaysia did to decongest their capital cities.

Read more: Traffic mess requires 3,000 km of new roads | Inquirer News

[_Cathy_]

I really blew my top off when I heard in the news on TV that Chairman Tolentino proposes a 4 number coding scheme in MM - Monday (1,2,3,4) [/B]so as to reduce the volume of vehicles by 40% He wants to follow Brazil kasi but then what works for one country does not always work for another!

Really, what is all this F**kery that our Chairman is on again??? That'll just make people purchase additional cars for coding. What makes my blood boil even more is there will be NO/ZERO/CERO/NADA effect on public vehicles as it is not covered by his brilliant proposal. So effectively he is forcing private vehicle owners to take public transportation. Kawawa na naman middle class.

There's little chance that this will be implemented. But it's really frustrating to hear these kinds of proposal. Why can't he reduce the number of buses first? Just last Sunday I got caught in traffic in Manila (near city hall) I thought there was an accident but it turns out that buses and jeeps were hogging half of the road waiting for passengers.

[jcRN]

dapat ang bawasan nila ay yung mga jeep sa EDSA. may city bus na nga may mga jeep pa. buti sana kung mga nasa linya, ang kaso loading unloading sila sa gitna nagkumpol kumpol kaya sumisikip ang ibang lanes. ang hilig pa mag-cut ng linya bigla bigla kahit masikip na, pag nakagasgas naman kamot ulo na lang. and they should strictly implement yung pag gamit ng bus lanes. sa araw araw na pagdaan ko sa EDSA, i see buses na wala sa mga linya nila. dapat din strict sila sa mga motor na mahihilig mag swerve, swerving at high speed sa mga maliliit na spaces sa pagitan ng ibang mga sasakyan. pag nabangga mo naman kahit kasalanan nila, responsibilidad mo pa din. ay nako chairman bago ka magpatupad ng kung ano anong ideas mo, ayusin mo muna yung existing traffic rules and regulations mo.

[Mokk]

Madaming tao po kasi nagbebenefit sa public vehicles as to private na madalas 1 tao lang ang sakay(like me:D). I think OK yung panukala na yan kung madistribute nila yung number scheme ng even.

[ronw123w124]

Ang question ko lang, sa sborang sikip dito sa MM saan mo pa isasaksak yang additional 3,000kms of road?

[MonteroGLSV]

Yes that's right, strictly implementation of traffic rules muna. also centralize all terminal like buses/jeep etc near MRT/LRT/PNR eazy link.

[reactor]

may plano na mga past admins na alisin mga lumang cars (jeeps, buses, taxis, pvt cars) pero malamang nasa plano pa din. padami ng padami mga cars araw araw may releases mga casas pero wala naman nababawas na mga sasakyan at wala din nadadagdag na kalsada time will come baka hindi na makausad ang mga cars sa major roads lalo na wala naman disiplina mga public transpo drivers frustrated na si chairman sa paghanap ng solusyon pag natuloy yan dami nanaman matatamaan

[chris_d]

They can build more elevated roads, strictly enforce loading/unloading areas for public transport.

Whenever I go to HK or SG, even China I ride their public transpo, convenient, (mostly) clean and safe, dito minsan convenient naman, kaso mainit, madumi, mausok at minsan may holdup pa na kasama...

[vinj]

Ang question ko lang, sa sborang sikip dito sa MM saan mo pa isasaksak yang additional 3,000kms of road?

Pwedeng:
- expand Metro Manila to other parts nearby (Bulacan/Pampanga/Cavite/Rizal); thus the current road capacity eases up as you spread traffic volumes over a wider area. You just have to googlemap the NCR and you'll see how ultra-concentrated Metro Manila is.However, before expanding Metro Manila and developing the provinces, zoning, roads and infra have to be well planned; yan lagi kulang.
- double up (elevate) some major thoroughfares
- decrease vehicles on the road by adding very, very modern and efficient mass transpo while ridding the roads of old, outdated means of transportation (you know who you are).
- eliminate half the buses on EDSA.

[wezz_zzew]

Try kaya muna nila sawatahin ung mga kolorum na PUJ/PUB sa kalsada. Palibhasa kc kumikita din ung ibang mga enforcer sa mga ganun kaya untouchables. Dami issue na dapat tutukan. Andyan ung mga bus na isa plate number pero 2 o 3 units. Ung pagsikip ng kalsada naman ay isa ding epekto ng paglago ng ating ekonomiya eh. Mas madaming sasakyan na nakikita sa daan, mas madaming negosyo ang gumagalaw.

Wala din naman ako problema sa coding kahit gawing 2-3 days kc maaga naman ako pumapasok.

After nung Ondoy ang luwag ng kalsada kc daming sasakyan ang nasira, ang masikip ung mga talyer.