Sustainable Transportation:

Awakening to the Nightmare of Carmageddon

The Philippines is such a wonderful country. The “Pearl of the Orient” prides
itself of the wonderful culture, food, sites, and attractions—from the white sandy
beaches of Boracay to the exhilarating and breathtaking sites of Palawan. What’s not
to love about the Philippines? But then this question comes along: “What do you
hate about the Philippines?” There are possibly a lot of answers to this and one that
would surely be on top of the list is ‘traffic’. Metro Manila’s transport system, along
with transport systems in key cities, is a nightmare. Hours of traffic jams, domino-
effect vehicular accidents, people late for important appointments, and even deaths.
Even in the height of the current pandemic, traffic is still a prevailing problem. We’ve
had days like this before, and we’re likely to have plenty more. How many more
nightmares do we have to struggle through before we finally wake up?

The country’s worsening traffic problem is troubling for an economy hailed as

one of the fastest growing in the Asian region, and especially considering that the
Philippines, in 2010, was part of the regional bloc that committed to establish a
sustainable, energy efficient, and environmentally-friendly transport system.
According to an article in web.worldbank.org, traffic and related environmental
problems have reached serious proportions in Metro Manila—rush hour or not—
affecting its more than 10 million residents, with vehicles traveling on the average no
faster than 15 kph on a weekday along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA).
Metro Manilans who often walk or use public utility vehicles, are the worst affected.
Overhead, one of the metro’s train lines chug along dilapidated rails, carrying twice
its maximum capacity. It’s considered a good day for commuters if the train doesn’t
suffer yet another technical glitch. Just these past years, the Metro Rail Transit
(MRT) has had many breakdowns, glitches, and service interruptions, that it has
caused much trouble for commuters. Patricia Mariano, an advisor in TRANSfer
Manila, said that as of 2017, congestion in Metro Manila alone has been estimated to
cost the country USD 67 million per day due to lost opportunities, additional fuel
consumption, and health costs. This is an increase of 46% from the congestion cost
estimated in 2014. Annually, this adds up to about USD 24 billion – or over 10% of
the Philippine GDP. This is what Metro Manila looks like today – home to a daytime
population of 15 million, a car-centric urban environment where motorized vehicles
dominate the roads, and public transport system that is neither efficient nor
organized.

This trend is expected to worsen as urban population continues to increase—

unless our country starts to put their sustainable transportation projects into action.
Sustainable Transportation refers to any means of transportation that is ‘green’ and
has low impact on the environment. It is also about balancing our current and future
needs. The good news is some government officials, researchers, and transportation
engineers in our country have taken actions to finally awaken the Philippines from its
carmageddon nightmare.
In 2017, the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization (PUVM) Program of the
Philippines was launched with the goal of making the country's public transportation
system efficient and environmentally friendly by 2020. It aims to improve the urban
quality of life, reduce economic losses due to time lost in travel, reduce health costs
and premature deaths, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improve the
economic situation of the operators and industry by improving service quality levels.
However, the program calls for the phasing-out of jeepneys, buses and other Public
Utility Vehicles (PUVs) that are at least 15 years old and replacing them with safer,
more comfortable and more environmentally-friendly alternatives over the next three
years. This was something some transport groups have criticized as "anti-poor", as it
would mean most drivers and small-time operators being unable to afford
replacement units and the possibility of corporate entities monopolizing the market
and imposing fare hikes on commuters. To counter this, the Department of
Transportation did assure that in order to soften the impact and assist small
operators who will be affected by the PUVMP, a special loan program with Landbank
and DBP is being proposed which will provide access to operators and drivers to
adequate funding. Stakeholders will also have access to various trainings and social
support programs which will be offered to enable them to be competent, self-
sufficient and well-equipped with the necessary technical knowledge and skills.

The PUVM Program was only one of the many well-intentioned policies of the
government to address specific aspects of the transport system, but despite having a
national policy framework to promote sustainable transport, the Philippine
government is facing many challenges in transforming the country’s transport
system. As in the case of many developing cities, public transport fares are often
kept low through national government subsidies in order to address the social equity
concerns of the poor. However, the affordable fare policy comes at the expense of
huge tax burdens and deteriorating service quality, which eventually leaves everyone
at a disadvantage. These issues, combined with other factors such as too much
demand for the given supply and poor maintenance of vehicles and facilities that
lead to breakdowns, result to the poor and unacceptable service quality of public
transport, to the point that it is no longer appealing to use.

While the Philippines’ focus on improving public transportation is a step in the

right direction, much more needs to be done in the area of encouraging alternate
mobility options and other forms of non-motorized transportation. With the present
substantial modal share of public transport, it is likely to decrease as people grow
increasingly dissatisfied with poor public transport and as private modes become
more affordable with rising incomes. Coordination with many experts on fields such
as Urban Planning and Transportation Engineering is paramount to help the country
move forward in terms of modernizing the country’s public transport system.
Otherwise, how are we to wake up from this nightmare?