Traffic Stasis

Last month the PCIJ came out with an investigative report regarding the traffic problem in the metropolitan area. Here are some excerpts.

• "On any given day, 2.34 million vehicles pass Metro Manila’s main circumferential artery, Edsa or C-4. Of the total, 139,227 are public utility buses (PUBs),..."
• "Traffic experts themselves say the high number of privately owned vehicles on Metro Manila thoroughfares is one of the main reasons why traffic in the metropolis has gotten worse through the years. But the boorish behavior of many public buses — as well as the fact that far too many of them are on the road — aggravate the situation. Official statistics even indicate that at least 80 percent of the buses in Metro Manila figured in traffic accidents in 2006."
• A 2006 report funded by JICA notes that "...there is a 50 percent oversupply of buses during the morning peak period between six and nine in the morning."
  

The actual number of buses is hard to pinpoint as part of the problem is that there are several agencies tangling with each other over who-is-in-charge (as usual). If you have ever been stuck in horn-blaring traffic along EDSA (especially if you drive yourself) what is apparent is the tremendous amount of incompetence effectively doled out by so-called 'traffic enforcers' from these agencies, whose most effective tactic to thwart an erring motorist is to flap his arms up-and-down from the side of the road.

There has got to be a better way to alleviate this horrific traffic problem we all have grown accustomed to. In the meantime, click here to read "Too Many Buses, Too Many Agencies Clog EDSA" by Margaret Jao-Grey.



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