Traffic cops return to Edsa

By Luis Leoncio 

All eyes will be on the Philippine National Police (PNP) Highway Patrol Group (HPG) starting Monday as it carries out its new mandate: to try solving Metro Manila’s monstrous traffic problem. 

Let’s give them (HPG) a chance to prove their worth, pleaded Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr., after President Aquino’s decision to field the policemen appeared to have evoked ugly visions of the dread “kotong cops” of old that had originally prompted authorities to resort to the Metro Manila Development Authority’s (MMDA) traffic enforcers, but whose own version of mulcters now appears to have surpassed the notoriety of their predecessors, prompting the new strategy.

The laboratory of the new traffic enforcers will be the whole stretch of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (Edsa), from where most of the traffic snarling the streets of the metropolis radiates.

The nighmarish traffic in the metropolis has practically triggered anarchy and even murder on its streets and cost the national economy P2.4 billion daily since 2012, or a whopping P7.4 billion to date, according to studies by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica).

The deployment of the HPG is the brainchild of the President, who is now being taken to task for the consistent failure of his underlings to solve the long-festering traffic problem.

Early this week, he presided over an interAgency meeting at Malacanang to discuss the issue. It was here that he decided to turn over the traffic management from the MMDA to the HPG.

‘It’s better to take a positive view on this issue because of the extensive effect of traffic congestion,” Coloma also said. “And one important aspect of the government’s response to this problem is effective law enforcement.”

In a corollary move, Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno launched his own anti-traffic solution by clearing many of the city’s streets of illegally parked vehicles—from pedicabs and cars to cargo vans and cargo trucks.

It has long been noted that illegally parked vehicles along most of Metro Manila’s busy streets, not to mention sidewalk vendors, have been among the major causes of traffic congestion in the city.

Also among the factors that worsened the traffic problem is the significant population increase in Metro Manila that now stands at 16.5 million.

According to tahe Jica study, the government should give priority to a short-term infrastructure development program to head off a vehicular traffic crisis in Metro Manila by 2030. Such a program was “doable in the next three years,” the study said.

Jica noted that the traffic volume in Metro Manila has already exceeded road capacities, specifically from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. and that, “if nothing is done, the situation in 2030 will become a nightmare. All roads will be saturated.

“Negative impact on economic, social, and environmental aspects will be so large to the point of deterring the function and liveability of Metro Manila.”

It estimated that the current daily traffic gridlock costs of P2.4 billion a day will grow to P6 billion a day by 2030 if the situation does not change.

The study noted that authorities have identified the Manila ports as a source of traffic congestion, but that their total phaseout was deemed not tenable for now because the total capacity in the alternate ports of Batangas and Subic was insufficient to handle all the container traffic.

The solution to the vehicular traffic problem in Metro Manila, the study said, lies in the building of about 136 kilometers of new at-grade roads, plus 426 kilometers of inter-city expressways and 78 kilometers of urban expressways, from 2016 to 2030.

“To solve current problems, the focus of road development will be to clear backlogs of unimplemented road projects,” Jica recommended.

For Metro Manila, the backlogs include the missing links of C2, C3, C4 and C5, as well as building flyovers and interchanges, which should be completed before 2016.

Meanwhile, Senators Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara and Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino urged a more concerted effort to solve the traffic problem.

Angara noted that a lot of productive manhours are being lost because of hours-long traffic gridlocks and urged the government to formulate a long-term infrastructure and transport plan to address the problem.

“There must be discipline and order especially in our public transport system,” he said. He rejected some government officials’ comment that traffic congestion was a sign of the country’s growing economy.

“Traffic definitely has a negative impact on the productivity of our workers and our economy. It’s a result of lack of foresight and planning from our agencies who are tasked to manage transport and traffic amid car sales surge in the country right now,” he said.

Aquino has filed a resolution seeking a review of existing transport infrastructure development plans in coordination with the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), MMDA and other relevant agencies.

Aquino said relevant government agencies and local government units must contribute to the crafting of an effective planning strategy and traffic-management system to improve traffic in Metro Manila.

“The MMDA alone cannot solve the worsening traffic condition. The DPWH, Land Transportation Office (LTO) and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulating Board (LTFRB), and the private sector must also do their share in solving the dilemma,” he said.