The trouble with solving EDSA traffic

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(This is an abridged version of a special report, written by Krixia Subingsubing and Jacob Lazaro, published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer today. – Ed)

DATA from the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) showed little improvement in traffic flow on EDSA since 2016.

Last year, vehicles took an average of one hour, 11 minutes and 54 seconds to traverse the 23-kilometer-plus-long thoroughfare — an average speed of 19.26km/h.

This was 30 seconds longer than the average travel time logged in 2016 (19.47km/h average speed). In 2017, the average travel time for the same distance was only 56 minutes and 15 seconds, at 24.62km/h.

President Rodrigo Duterte said the congestion on EDSA is his sole failure.

“There is no promise I haven’t fulfilled except for the one about EDSA. I promised free tuition, the law is there. I promised free universal health care, I have signed the law. What else do you want?” he said in February.

Build, build, build

MMDA traffic engineering director Neomie Recio attributed the slowdown in vehicular flow on EDSA to the increase in the number of new cars, as well as simultaneous road closures due to projects under the government’s “Build, Build, Build” program.

A representative for a commuter group, however, said the government’s “vehicle-oriented” projects will not necessarily improve mobility.

“These [will] improve the road network capacity for vehicles, but [they will] not necessarily move people. In other countries, they have made moves to veer away from cars and into public transport and bikes, while we’re still focusing on cars,” said Toix Cerna of Komyut.

Built to accommodate 6,000 vehicles per hour, EDSA is now traversed by 7,000 to 8,000 vehicles hourly, according to the MMDA.

While it is not the only road in Metro Manila choking on cars, its proximity to major hubs and link to other major highways make it two to five times more congested than other circumferential and radial roads in the National Capital Region.

For MMDA EDSA traffic chief Edison “Bong” Nebrija, private cars are to blame.

While there were fewer private vehicles in Metro Manila in 2018 (251,628) compared to 2016 (278,657), two-thirds of these pass through EDSA and other major thoroughfares across Metro Manila daily.

The MMDA estimated that 80% carried just the driver.

“Private cars take up so much space but carry so few people compared to buses,” Nebrija said. “We’re trying to take back the roads for the sake of commuters.”

Presidential promise

The dismal situation does not seem to daunt the President.

In May, he promised to reduce travel time between Cubao in Quezon City and Makati City to just five minutes by December, forcing the MMDA to scramble for a silver bullet option to realize this goal.

Cerna called it a “crazy, impractical proposition that’s not going to improve the productivity of everybody.”

For the MMDA, it was an opening to start rolling out a series of drastic measures, including bringing back the high-occupancy vehicle, or HOV, policy, which banned driver-only cars on EDSA during rush hour.

Nebrija estimated that once implemented, it would reduce by as much as 160,000 the vehicles on the road, enough for a 60km/h, nonstop run from P. Tuazon in Quezon City to Guadalupe in Makati City (the closest points between the two cities) within 5.8 minutes.

But when the MMDA implemented a test run of the HOV policy last year, no less than the Senate urged it to reconsider, prompting the agency to drop the idea for now.

Dr. Primitivo Cal of the University of the Philippines said the problem was that the MMDA was attempting to regulate the number of vehicles first.

“These policies have to be rolled out in the correct sequence,” he said. “Improve first the capacity of the mass transport options so that you have room for those who will be affected by these policies. If you roll out the restrictions first, the affected will surely push back,” he explained.

Since last year, the MMDA has also been pushing for a ban on provincial buses and their terminals on EDSA.

Despite the fact that they comprise only 2% to 3% of the traffic on EDSA, provincial buses, particularly violators of the “nose-in, nose-out” policy, were too often the cause of bottlenecks on the highway, Nebrija said.

MMDA’s measures

What is certain for now is that the MMDA has been almost single-handedly, despite some setbacks, trying to improve the traffic flow on EDSA through its yellow lane policy for buses; the no-contact apprehension program for traffic violators; and the unified vehicular volume reduction program.

Cerna’s observation, however, was that the MMDA’s policies were “still biased for vehicles and not for people.”

“The MMDA should review its programs so their appreciation … and approach to solving the problem will also change,” she said.

Cerna added that the MMDA should stop trying to comply with a key performance indicator under its budget, which required it to reduce travel time along major thoroughfares instead of, say, decreasing public vehicles’ waiting time.

She said the ideal ratio for mobility was 10-10-10-3: a 10-minute walk to the transit stop; a 10-minute waiting period; a 10km/h average speed; with about three transfers.

But such metrics have not been integrated into the national transport policy by the National Economic and Development Authority, she noted.

“We are trying everything,” Nebrija said. “The thing is, [people] think the MMDA is in charge of everything … when it is just in charge of enforcing regulations.”

Emergency powers

That’s why the MMDA is looking to Congress to pass the emergency traffic powers bill filed by Sen. Francis Tolentino.

Under his version, the transport secretary as traffic czar will have the power to, among others, streamline the tangled policies of local government units on roads like EDSA and C-5.

This was crucial as the bulk of the infrastructure projects under the Build, Build, Build program goes into full swing, said MMDA general manager Jose Arturo “Jojo” Garcia said. “But even if the bill doesn’t push through, we will continue doing our jobs.”