More suggestions to unclog Edsa

By Botchi Santos September 09,2015
PHOTO by ARNOLD ALMACEN/INQUIRER

PHOTO by ARNOLD ALMACEN/INQUIRER

With the Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG) taking over traffic management duties on Edsa, and proclaiming that they will adopt zero tolerance on erring drivers who cause traffic on the road, will we see any improvement of the Edsa traffic?

As far back as five years ago, we had been traveling an average of 60 to 90 minutes on Edsa. Last year, many who ply Edsa say they’d become accustomed to 90 to 120 minutes travel time.

Now, it looks like it’s creeping to a 180-minute travel time. That’s equivalent to  a really, really long movie. What a waste of time and, for those transporting perishable goods, a waste of resources and money.

I won’t offer any advice to the PNP-HPG on how to manage Edsa traffic. Let’s let them do their own thing, give them a chance and have a little faith in them.

But I’d like to ask the authorities to look into other aspects which can help improve traffic. Here they are:

1. Deal with illegally parked cars.

Many roads diverge, intersect and cross Edsa. These are feeder roads which also help reduce traffic volume on Edsa. It is these very same roads that have numerous illegally parked cars that impede traffic.

The PNP-HPG, local traffic police and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) should look into removing these vehicles. We should create a road-ranking system that categorizes a road’s importance in terms of traffic flow and reduction.

The more critical a road is, the more vigilant authorities should be in monitoring illegally parked vehicles or other similar obstructions.

Where should these vehicles be parked? Anywhere but  the main public roads.

2. Clear up the sidewalks.

Sidewalks per se do not cause any traffic, and should not matter to the average motorist. Pedestrians use the sidewalk for safety. But it is when these sidewalks play host to illegal impromptu stalls that problems start.

The stalls entice people to congregate around them, which then forces PUVs to stop where the people are, and consequently create traffic. Without prejudice to the poor or enterprising, these stalls should be removed immediately.

From North Luzon Expressway entering the southbound lane of Edsa, the Muñoz market typifies the worst-ever kind of traffic caused by illegally parked vehicles (the marketgoers and stall owners use two lanes for parking, loading and unloading).

3. Limit public transport vehicles; monitor the drivers.

A picture of three buses entering the southbound lane of the Magallanes flyover went viral a few days ago.

The three buses jostled for position, with the leftmost bus swerving all the way from the outside lane and squeezing itself into the innermost lane. The resulting jostling and jockeying for position of these three buses essentially clogged up Edsa traffic all the way back to Timbuktu.

We need to limit PUVs. How do we limit them? Put a maximum age limit to these vehicles. Put an age cap on their franchise as well so that when this expires, it cannot be renewed if the franchise holder has numerous violations.

PUV drivers should also undergo stricter drug testing. The urine test is very easy to fake. A full blood test is important, as well as a mental evaluation of  these drivers.

It’s not a question of cost or convenience, but a matter of life and death when PUV drivers go crazy on the road, with their barely-safe and not-so-reliable PUVs.

Lastly, installing speed limiters (a maximum of 80 kilometers per hour) on all PUVs is another way to regulate safety and prevent overspeeding among them.

4. Monitor key traffic hotspots.

Previously, I listed some of the worst sections of Edsa, which included the aforementioned Muñoz  and Balintawak Markets, Edsa-Quezon Avenue service road, Kamuning, Cubao, Edsa-Ortigas, Boni Avenue, Guadalupe, the U-turn slot entering Kalayaan Avenue into BGC, the Magallanes interchange, the Tramo flyover and Edsa-Taft.

The PNP-HPG should closely monitor these areas because this is where the heavy traffic occurs due to illegally parked cars, illegal sidewalk vendors, overzealous PUV drivers cramming into position to pick up passengers, and so on.

If we can get the traffic in  areas moving freely by removing any and all impediments and having well-disciplined PUV drivers, traffic should improve significantly.

5. Do road-widening and road improvement.

A lot of roads need to be widened and repaired. If we can widen not just Edsa but also the feeder roads leading into and out of it, traffic will flow faster.

This isn’t part of the PNP-HPG’s task anymore, but more of the MMDA’s and the Department of Public Works and Highways’, as well as LGUs’. And these government units should act on it.

We all need to do our part. Some of those that need to be widened are the service road on Edsa-Quezon Avenue beside Centris, the Edsa Central service road in Mandaluyong (site of the infamous Iglesia ni Cristo rallies a few weeks back), the outer service road of Edsa leading into Buendia/Sen. Gil Puyat which needs resurfacing to speed up traffic, and the confusing and underutilized road space underneath the Edsa-Kamuning flyover which is now just used as a parking lot.

These suggestions may only be  minor in themselves, but we need each and every one of them to cause a very noticeable and very welcome improvement on  Edsa’s traffic condition.

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