Highway & Railroad Engineering

Learning Module Series

Module No. 2: History of Transportation practice in the Philippines

Professional Organizations of Transportation Engineers

 American Society of State Highway

and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)

Its primary goal is to foster the development,

operation, and maintenance of an integrated
national transportation system.

 Institute of Transportation
Engineers (ITE)

International educational and

scientific association of transportation
professionals who are responsible for
meeting mobility and safety needs.

 Eastern Asia Society of

Transportation Studies (EASTS)

EASTS (Eastern Asia Society for

Transportation Studies) was founded in
November 1994 as a result of the
significant meeting held in Kawana, Japan
with experts in transportation coming
from 13 countries/regions in Eastern Asia.

As of September 2019, the member

domestic societies join from 19
countries/regions: Australia, Cambodia,
China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan,
Korea, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia,
Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand,
Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. We encourage more
countries/regions to become member domestic societies and more individual members.

The primary objectives of the Society are to foster and support excellence in transportation
research and practice and to stimulate professional interchange in all aspects and modes
of transportation. Under the objectives, the Society is composed of transportation science
societies (called “member domestic societies“) in Eastern Asia and individuals from other
countries.
 Highway & Railroad Engineering
Learning Module Series
Module No. 2: History of Transportation practice in the Philippines

 Transportation Science Society of the

Philippines (TSSP)
The Transportation Science Society of the Philippines
(TSSP) was formally established on 22 September 1993,
when the organization was incorporated with the Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC). Prior to the formal
establishment of the society, the idea of an organization of
professionals and academics in the field of transportation in
the Philippines was conceived much earlier. A group of
Japanese professors led by Dr. Shigeru Morichi was then on
assignment in the country as Visiting Professors from their
respective universities as part of a bilateral project
supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency
(JICA) to train more Filipinos in the field of transportation,
and establish the first post-graduate programs in transport
and traffic in the country.

History of Transportation Engineering Practice

Transportation engineering is a filed or branch of civil engineering that deals with the
application of technology and scientific principles to the planning, functional design,
operation, and management of facilities for any mode of transportation in order to
provide for the safe, rapid, comfortable, convenient, economical, and environmentally
compatible movement of people and goods.

On the other hand, traffic engineering is that phases of transportation engineering that
deals with the planning, geometric design, and traffic operations of roads, streets and
highways, their networks, terminals, abutting lands, and relationships with other modes
of transportation (Evans 1950).
In the United States, it was in 1921 when the title “traffic engineer” was first recognized,
although a number of traffic engineering-related activities were already going on. Table
1.4 shows some of these activities:
 Highway & Railroad Engineering
Learning Module Series
Module No. 2: History of Transportation practice in the Philippines

Milestones in the developing profession of traffic engineering

Year Activity
1904 Traffic survey methods were being employed.
1907 Pedestrian islands were used in San Francisco.
1908 The first driver’s license law was adopted.
1911 White-painted pavement center lines were first applied.
1915 Origin-destination studies and accident spot maps were first used.
1916 Speed and delay study was first made by observing traffic from a high
building; pedestrian regulation and “no left turns” were prescribed; curb
parking was prohibited to facilitate traffic movement.
Source: Evans 1950

The use of traffic signals for controlling traffic came much earlier. The first
recorded use of traffic signals was in 1868 in Great Britain. The signals were
illuminated by town gas. However, the use of gas was discontinued after an explosion
incident. The development of traffic signal technology is shown in table 1.5.

Development of traffic signal control

Year Activity
1868 First traffic signal in Great Britain (illuminated by gas)
1910 Manually operated semaphore signals
1922 Idea of timing signals for progressive movement
1926 First automatic traffic signals in Great Britain
1927 Earliest known application of time-space diagram for
coordination
1928 First traffic-actuated signals
Source: Evans 1950.

In 1930, the Institute of Traffic Engineers (ITE) was founded, and traffic engineering as
a profession was finally officially established and defined. The society played a key role
in promoting the profession through advanced training, research studies,
standardization, laws, and application of traffic engineering techniques (Evans 1950).
 Highway & Railroad Engineering
Learning Module Series
Module No. 2: History of Transportation practice in the Philippines

History of Transportation Engineering Practice in the

Philippines

The traffic engineering practice in the Philippines is still new. Most intersections were
previously controlled by traffic police officers or by manually operated traffic signals.
Outside Metro Manila, manually operated semaphore signals displaying STOP or GO
message were installed on top of police outposts located at the center of the intersection. In
1977, the Traffic Engineering and Management (TEAM) Project first implemented an area
traffic control system in Metro Manila. It was almost at the same period when the Traffic
Control Center, later renamed as the Traffic Engineering Center (TEC), was established. The
center was responsible for the implementation of various traffic engineering and
management measures such as traffic signalization, geometric improvement of
intersections, etc. In 1976, the Transport Training Center (TTC) was established in the
University of the Philippines with assistance from Japan through the Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA). TTC started its training program in 1978 in the fields of traffic
engineering, transportation planning, and traffic management for traffic law enforcers. TTC
was renamed as the National Center for Transportation Studies and became a regular unit
of UP Diliman in 1993, with research and support to graduate programs in the fields of
transportation engineering and transportation planning as additional functions.

 Legislative Framework

Republic Act 4136, otherwise known as the Land Transportation and Traffic Code,
provides for the system of registration of motor vehicles, checks on accessories of vehicles,
and defines road traffic rules and regulations.
Commonwealth Act 146, otherwise known as Pubic Service Act, rests on the regulatory
body (LTFRB) the power to compel any public service provider to furnish safe, adequate,
and proper service as regards the manner of furnishing the same as well as the maintenance
of necessary materials and equipment.
Executive Order (EO) 125 reorganized the then Ministry of Transportation and
Communications into a Department and defined its powers and functions, including the
establishment of the Land Transportation Office as the sectoral agency responsible for
implementing and carrying out policies, rules, and regulations governing the land
transportation system of the country.
Executive Order (EO) 202 created the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory
Board with the main function of regulating the land transport industry pursuant to the
Public Service Act.
Republic Act 6975 established the Department of the Interior and Local Government
(DILG), including the creation of the PNP under which the Traffic Management Group has
been reorganized as the traffic enforcement arm of the PNP covering national roads.