Chapter I

THE PROBLEM AND IT’S SETTINGS

Introduction

Commuting is a recurring travel between one's place of residence and place of

work or study, where the traveler leaves the boundary of their home community. It can

sometimes be in any regular or often repeated travel between locations, even when not

work-related.Commuting involved more and more people. It is a more complex

geography of movement, and a sequence of technological innovations adding variety to

the transportation system. The history of commuting is one of changing land-

use patterns, lengthening distances and changing geometry of travel, evolving modes

of transportation, shifts in the social composition of commuters, and the rise of a

commuter culture.

A person who travels to work over an appreciable distance usually, from the

suburbs to the centre of the city is called commuters. A commuter travels regularly

especially by automobiles, bus, train and etc which carries passenger relatively short to

long distances and usually serves small communities. According to 2016 census data

conducted by Karen Barrow, only 7,500,000 million of the country’s 150 million workers

do their work from home. According to data available from the GSC Land Transportation

Office, the number of registered motorized tricycle for hire is 4,243; number of

motorcycle with sidecar is 6,925; and number of motorcycle is 29,630.The transport

group explained that the oversupply of tricycles is due to tricycles from nearby

municipalities coming into the city.

Commuting appears for many workers to be a necessity which is imposed by

external factors, such as the housing market and job opportunities. Commuting is

shown to interfere with patterns of everyday life by restricting free-time and reducing

sleeping time. A majority of commuters use public transport mainly because of cost.

Public transport commuters have problems due to more changes between modes, idle

waiting times and delays leading to late arrival at work.

According to Kowslowsky, the effects of commuting problems on the work

organization includes lateness, absenteeism, increased turnover, lower employee

performance, and increases cost due to employees absent from work. In addition, ,

Eurostat conducted a European wide survey and concluded that work-related stress

accounted for more than a quarter of all two-week absences. Furthermore, In the UK,

the confederation of British Industry stated that 200 million days were lost through

illness in 1998, costing a staggering $10.2 billion to industry. This in turn can cause

considerable disturbances to productivity, creativity, and competitiveness.

Continued metropolitan growth and densification of the inner built-up area

generated traffic volumes and congestion sufficient to spur the construction of limited-

access superhighways. In any major urban developing city where commerce and

economic activity is dense, transportation plays a vital role in moving people and goods.

With an increase in industrialization and urbanization over time, the demand for
transportation has increased proportionately as well.  Thus, this study is set to

investigate the problems encountered by the commuters along Silway to Makar Road.

Statement of the Problem

The study aims to determine the significant problems encountered by the

commuters along Silway to Makar Road.

Specifically, the researcher seeks to find out the answer of the following sub-

problems.

1. What is the level of the following problems encountered by the commuters along

Silway to Makar Road, in terms;

a. Commuting profile;

b. Stress and Time;

c. Mode of transportation;

d. Demographic profile; and

e. Commuters Experience

Scope and Delimitation

This study will be conducted to determine the problems encountered by

commuters along Silway to Makar Road. It seeks to find out the main reasons that

affects the commuters in this area.

This study is limited to 25 selected commuters per Baranggay in the city of

General Santos. General Santos City lies at the southern part of the Philippines. It is
located between 125°1‘ and125°17‘east longitude and between 5°58‘ and 6°20‘ north

latitude. Of the city's 26 barangays, Calumpang (75,342) and Fatima (66,460) ranked

highest in terms of population with a share of approximately 13% and 11%, respectively,

in 2015.Labangal had a population of 61,713, which accounted for 10%.

This study will be conducted in some barangays in the City of General

Santos. Specifically in Brgy. Calumpang, Labangal and Fatima. This area has the most

concentrated population, the most complex and diverse urban space, and the most

frequent commuting problems.

Significance of the Study

The knowledge and information gathered in this study may benefit the following:

To Local Government of General Santos City. This may give them idea on making

intervention programs to minimize the problems encountered by the commuters along

Silway to Makar Road.

To school administrator. This may give them idea to about the current problems

encountered by the commuters. RMMC is located in the center of the city in which most

students comes from different barangays.

To the teachers. The result of this study may provide them some information about the

problems of some students who are always commuting.

To the commuters. The result of this study may provide information about the

problems they encountered and can somehow minimize such concerns.

To the researcher. The result of this study may give more information to the researcher

about the problems encountered by commuters. The researcher himself is a commuter.

Other Researcher. This study may help future researchers who are re investigating or

paralleled researches. They may utilize the results and recommendation at the end of

this study as reference of their researches.

 Chapter II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter presents the related literature and studies of the problem at hand. It

is based on a number of different theories, ideas and studies that strongly support this

study a brief discussion is presented.

History of Commuting

According to Jonatha English, in his article entitled “The Commuting Principle

That Shaped Urban History” he stated that until the Industrial Revolution, there was

pretty much only one way for most people on dry land to get around: on foot. With

services concentrated in the center of cities, the radius of development from the heart of

the city was limited to not much more than one mile about the distance a person can

walk in 30 minutes.

Mode choice for commute trips is probably the dimension of travel behavior that

has been studied most thoroughly.The word “commuter” derives from early days of rail

travel in US cities, such as New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Chicago, where, in the

1840s, the railways engendered suburbs from which travellers paying a reduced or

'commuted' fare into the city. Later, the back formations "commute" and "commuter"

were coined therefrom. (Academic Dictionaries and Enyclopedia).

According to Academic Dictionaries and Enyclopedia before the 19th century,

most workers lived less than an hour's walk from their work. Today, many people travel

daily to work a long way from their own towns, cities, and villages, especially in
industrialised societies. Depending on factors such as the high cost of housing in city

centres, lack of public transit, and traffic congestion, modes of travel may include

automobiles, motorcycles, trains, buses, and bicycles.

So as these old cities grew, they became denser. The arrival of horse-drawn

mass transportation the first fixed-route buses were created by mathematician Blaise

Pascal in Paris in 1662 didn’t change this pattern; hooves didn’t get people around

much faster than feet did. For most residents, the cities of this era were awful places to

live, with extreme crowding, dismal sanitation, and routine outbreaks of vicious disease.

(Bloomberg)

STRESS AND TIME

According to Martino 2016, commuting is shown to interfere with patterns of

everyday life by restricting free-time and reducing sleeping time. A majority of

commuters use public transport mainly because of cost. Public transport commuters

have problems due to more changes between modes, idle waiting times and delays

leading to late arrival at work. Inside transport modes, commuters suffered discomfort

as a result of overcrowding, micro-climatic conditions, noise and vibrations. Commuters

also reported higher psychological stress scores, more health complaints, essentially of

psychosomatic nature, and greater absenteeism from work due to sickness.

Commuting, in addition to shift work, further increases sleep problems, psychosomatic

complaints and difficulties with family and social life.

In addition, experts such as Frey and Stutzer say many workers who commit to a

longer commute probably underestimate the human costs. And once the routine is
under way, people quickly become accustomed to the greater income or the pretty

house in the suburbs. It takes longer for the unpleasant aspects of the grind to set in,

yet the physical and mental health effects become stronger and stronger over time.

The added time and distance may not be worth the hassle, however. Research

from around the world is leading psychologists to conclude that the heightened stress

that commuting puts on individuals and their families can easily overshadow the work

and home gains they might realize.

Furthermore, A 2001 study by Norbert Schneider, a sociology professor at the

University of Mainz in Germany, reported in depth on 65 long-distance commuters and

the spouses or domestic partners of 45. Almost 60 percent of the workers complained

that they had no time to pursue their own interests no sports, no clubs, not even an

occasional outing with friends.

MODE OF TRANSPORTATION

Most human mobility is satisfied by movement on foot or by independent

wheeled vehicles. These movements commonly take place along prepared

surfaces, ranging in scale from footpaths to motorways. Paths have been a part of

human society since the retreat of glaciation in about 10 000 BC. The development of

roads followed the invention of the wheel, and dates from about 4000 BC.

Travel mode choice is influenced by the characteristics of trip maker and trip

features. Scholars think slightly differently regarding factors that influence the choice of

travel mode. The socio-economic attributes of travelers and the characteristics of each

travel mode are factors that will be considered.Apart from these common factors, the
speed of adjustment, the resistance to change, working hours, subjective lifestyle,

residential density , geographical factors, and housing price, were also considered by

scholars. (Nan Ye et al).

Different types of cities and different regions of the city consider different factors

and have different travel mode choice results. City specification is an important factor to

be concerned with before research. Because country populations are different, the

conclusions obtained from different countries would be different. However, many studies

that study the choice of travel mode use only one day’s data, and do not take into

account the variability in commuting mode choice across multiple days. The shift in

transport policy towards travel demand management has directed the attention of

transport research towards the dynamic processes in travel behavior; learning, and

change on the one hand, and rhythms and routines on the other . Previous studies have

showed that travel behavior is neither totally repetitious nor totally variable. Though

many behaviors that make up the daily pattern are highly repetitious, the similarity

between daily travel patterns on different days in an individual’s longitudinal record is

quite low. Hence, intrapersonal variability needs to be considered in studying travel

behavior.

TRAFFIC CONGESTION

Traffic congestion has been increasing in much of the world, developed or not,

and everything indicates that it will continue to get worse, representing an undoubted

menace to the quality of urban life. According to Bull 2003, congestion is mainly due to

the intensive use of automobiles, whose ownership has spread massively in recent
decades. He added that private cars have advantages in terms of facilitating personal

mobility, and they give a sensation of security and even of heightened status, especially

in developing countries.

Moreover, Sustainability 2020, congestion in urban or metropolitan areas may

occur due to various reasons, such as excess demand, signal, incidents, work zones,

weather-related, or special events. Depending on various root causes, generally, road

traffic congestions can be classified into two categories: (1) recurring congestions and

(2) nonrecurring congestions.

The harmful effects of congestion are suffered directly by the vehicles and

commuters that are trying to circulate. They are not only suffered by motorists,

however,but also by users of public transport –generally lower-income persons–who not

only take longer to travel from one place to another but also have to pay higher fares on

account of congestion. All city-dwellers are also adversely affected, in terms of a

deterioration in their quality of life through such factors as greater air and noise pollution

and the negative long-term impact on the healthiness and sustainability of their cities, all

of which makes it vitally necessary to keep congestion under control.

ENVIRONMENTAL/HEALTH PROBLEM

In the study of Wong and Alias, entitled Commuting on Public Transport: Health

Risks andResponses, they mentioned that rapid urbanization places a huge demand for

infrastructure on busy city roads, exposing commuters to the health risks of atmospheric

air pollutants. raffic-related air pollution causes significant health burdens worldwide and
enormous economic losses. Both shortand long-term exposures to atmospheric air

pollutants cause a range of adverse health effects on people who commute.

In addition, traffic-related air pollution has been implicated in a range of illnesses

related to respiratory diseases and cardiovascular complications. From a public health

perspective, the health effects of air pollution are both chronic. In many countries in

Asia, concentrations of ambient air pollutants exceed levels associated with increased

risk of acute and chronic health problems. In particular, studies have shown that

exposure to air pollution in traffic has been associated with chronic health effects,

particularly cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Much evidence has also been

found showing the high prevalence of respiratory disease symptoms and asthma

exacerbation among those who reside near high-traffic roads.

Considering the immense economic impact of air pollution, the affected

communities, particularly the commuters who are regularly exposed to atmospheric air

pollution, should be equipped with knowledge of the health impact of air pollution and

preventive measures to reduce the health risks associated with exposure to air

pollution. A concerted effort on the part of the public to practice mitigation measures is

important in order to reduce the economic loss caused by the effects of air pollution.
Conceptual Framework

The conceptual framework of the study depicts that Problems encountered

serves as independent variable. Any factors related to this will affect the commuters.

The dependent variable that is being observed will be affected by the independent

variable is the commuter.

STRESS
AND TIME

PROBLEMS MODE OF
TRAFFIC TRANSPORT
ENOCUNTERED
CONGESTION ATION
BY THE
COMMUTERS

COMMUTERS
EXPERIENCE

Definition of Terms

For better understanding of this study, the following terms used in the study are

hereby defined based on the context of the study.

Commute- Conceptually, it refers to make the same journey regulary between work

from home (Cambridge Dictionary). Operationally, it refers on how people travel

everyday.

Commuters- Conceptually, it refers to someone who regularly travels between work

and home (Cambridge Dictionary). Operationally, it refers to the respondents of the

study.

Congestion- Conceptually, it refers to a situation in which a place is too blocked or

crowded, causing difficulties (Cambridge Dictionary). Operationally, it refers to one of

the problems encountered by the respondents.

Problems- Conceptually, it refers to a situation, person, or thing that needs attention

and needs to be dealt with or solved. (Cambridge Dictionary). Operationally, it refers to

the difficulties dealt by the respondents.

Silway to Makar Road- Conceptually, it refers to a part of the City of General Santos.

Operationally, it refers to where the study focuses.

Transportation- Conceptually, it refers to a vehicle or system of vehicles, such as

buses, trains, etc. for getting from one place to another. Operationally, it is the use of

the respondents for their movement to one place from another.

 Chapter III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the research design, research instrument, locale of study,

respondents, sampling used, data gathering procedure and statistical treatment employ

in the process of making this research study.

Research Design

The descriptive survey method will be utilized in this study. It desires to gather

information to determined problems encountered by the commuters along Silway to

Makar Road.

Problems Encountered by the Commuters Along Silway to Makar Road

Problems
Data Gathering Statistical
Encountered by the
Commuters Along Treatments
Silway to Makar Research Design
Road Descriptive
Problems Descriptive Survey Method Statistics
Weighted
a. Commuting Research Respondents mean
Information
b. Stress and 75commuters in the City of
Time General Santos City
c. Mode of (Labangal, Calumpang and
transportation Fatima)
d. Traffic
Congestion
e. Environmental/ Research Instrument
Health Problem Self made online
questionnaires
Research Locale
 This study will be conducted in some barangays in the City of General

Santos. Specifically in Brgy. Labangal, Calumpang, and Fatima. This area has the most

concentrated population, the most complex and diverse urban space, and the most

frequent commuting problems.

Silway

Makar

Research Respondents

Table 1
The Distribution of Respondents

Name of Barangay No. of Respondents

Labangal 25
Calumpang 25
Fatima 25
Total 75

The

respondents of the study are 90 commuters fromthe city of General Santos. Specifically
in Brgy. Calumpang, Fatima, Labangal and Tambler. These barangays has the most

concentrated population, the most complex and diverse urban space, and they have

most frequent commuting problems in travelling along Silway-Makar Road. Each

barangay will have 25 participants each.

Research Instrument

This study will make use of a response type of online questionnaire to find the

needed data, that will be collected from commuters of Silway to Makar Road to

determine the problems encountered by the commuters. This will be distributed through

google forms and will be recorded accordingly.It is composed of 30 items subdivided by

4 categories which can be answered through a 5-point scale with descriptions that

range from always, often, sometimes, seldom and never .

Sampling Procedure

Upon the approval of the title of the study and having found that the instruments

are valid and reliable, the researcher will follow the procedure with his data.

First, the researcher sent a letter/permission to the Department Head Engr.

Kenneth D. Marcos and also to the Advisers of the Respondents with the approval of

Name of Adviser allowing the researcher to conduct the study.

Second, the researcher will immediately administer the online survey

questionnaire to the respondents of the study. He will sent the link to respondents and

will immediately retrieved the completed survey questionnaire.

Lastly, the researcher will tally the raw data and will compute correctly to arrive at

precise analysis and interpretation of the results.

Data Gathering Procedure

An official permission will be obtained from the School Administration of RMMC.

The study tool will be developed, structures will be based on literature review. The study

tool will be revise for content validity and reliability by specialists’ expertise in the field of

study. The aim of the study will be explain for each participant prior to data collection.

The gathered data will be tabulated analyzed and statistical significant test will done.

Discussion of the obtained results of the study will be addressed according to the study

results and related to current literature.

Statistical Treatment of Data

For problem one (1), the will be tallied and statistically treated and computed

using weighted mean to determine the mean rating for each item in the questionnaire.

Weighted mean will interpret through the given five-point scale with the corresponding

qualitative description as to describe the implication of the results.

The following statistical tools will used in the treatment of the gathered data:

Weighted arithmetic mean was used to determine the problems encountered by the

commuters. With the use of formula ẋ=

∑ f x , where ẋis the weighted arithmetic mean;
∑f
∑ fx, is the sum of the entire products of f and x. Where f is the frequency of each
option, x is the weighted and ∑ f is the sum of the respondents.
The scale below signifies problems encountered by the commuters along Silway to

Makar Road.

Weighted Scale Verbal Qualitative Description

Mean interval Interpretation

5 Always The problems encountered by the commuters

4.21-5.00 is always and rated 81-100%

3.41-4.20 4 Often The problems encountered by the commuters

is always and rated 61-80%

2.61-3.40 3 Sometimes The problems encountered by the commuters

is always and rated 41-60%

1.81-2.60 2 Seldom The problems encountered by the commuters

is always and rated 21-40%

1.00-1.80 1 Never The problems encountered by the commuters

is always and rated 1-20%

Vehicle Traffic Flow

The vehicle traffic flow on a road can be expressed

q = n 3600 / t                                   (1)

where

q = vehicle flow (no. vehicles per hour)

n = no. vehicles passing in t seconds

t = time for passing vehicles (s)

Example - Vehicle Traffic Flow

If 1000 vehicles passes in 2 hours (7200 s) - the flow can be calculated

  q = 1000 3600 / 7200 (s)

      = 500 vehicles per hour

Vehicle Density

Vehicle density can be expressed as

k = n 5280 / l                               (2)

where

k = vehicle density (vehicles per mile)

n = no. of vehicles occupying a length l of the road

l = the length of road occupied by the vehicles (ft)

(2) expressed in km

k = n 1000 / l                               (2b)

where

k = vehicles per km

n = no. of vehicles occupying a length l of the road

l = the length of road occupied by the vehicles (m)