Curing Metro Manilas Cancer of Traffic

Traffic congestion has long been known to be one of the leading problems faced

by Filipinos within the metro. Almost every day, commuters would have their fair share

of traffic blockage by which to some extent seems endless. For some people if not all I

might add, time is actually valued and it is something not exactly worth wasting on

traffic jams. So, would we allow ourselves to be toyed around by traffic clogging for

eternity? I therefore propose that the government should enforce a law regarding the

road pricing on a certain type of vehicle: the private ones, seeing that they along with

their users encompass majority of the culprits behind Metro Manilas traffic congestion.

According to Eliasson and Lundberg (2002) road pricing is actually normally used for

systems with the main objective to reduce traffic congestion by allocating the traffic to

other less congested alternative routes and hours (p. 6) and I for one deem that it will

somehow draw an end to Metro Manilas problem of traffic obstruction.

According to several authors, the implementation of present alleviations dont

actually mitigate but instead invite further congestion thus suggesting the failure of the

governments means to address the problem of traffic congestion. This also suggests the

need to implement effective new laws. For instance, an article stressed that there are

only 2 alternatives in solving the problem of traffic congestion: spend billions on

increasing road capacity but with only a short term effect, or start enforcing laws that

are supposed to be enforced at present (Traffic Solutions, 2012). Sure enough we would

want the most convenient and efficient choice, enforcing new laws. Meanwhile another

article mentioned We can all but take stock of the sad futility in the governments lousy

efforts to solve Metro Manilas traffic mess. U-turn slots, counter flow systems, more
roads, more flyovers, truck bans, truck lanes, and odd-even schemes; all of these quaint

measures to solve traffic are examples of Filipinos small-minded approach to solving

its problems (Why Metro Manilas, 2014). In addition, another article introduced the

phenomenon of triple convergence which suggests that expanding the available

capacity for vehicles to occupy in the roads wont exactly solve traffic jams for the

volume of traffic would always expand in the long run to maximize the available capacity

(Traffic Solutions, 2012). Yes, the construction of more roads, flyovers and such do

decongest traffic but only for a short while; sooner or later the roads would be clogged

up once more thus making it a total waste of money, energy, and of course resources.

Another article then mentioned it is a fact that freeways provide some short term

relief, but within a short time, the extra road capacity generates more traffic than there

was before. In the long run, freeways just allow congestion to grow further: they dont

reduce it (Myth: Freeways Relieve). And finally, Santiago mentioned that the number

or color coding scheme implemented by the government only pushed households to buy

an extra car to use alternately thus defeating the purpose of reducing traffic congestion.

Before the government plans to start wasting resources they should probably think

twice; their present mitigations are not the answers.

Although some mitigations help worsen the problem of traffic congestion, some

probably have contributed to the decongestion of Metro Manilas traffic but

unfortunately werent sufficient enough to let traffic flow smoothly; two of which would

be the very famous Light Rail Transits (LRTs) and Metro Rail Transits (MRTs). As a

commuter myself, I have observed that the LRTs and MRTs are also often very

congested thus entailing that a lot commute via the LRTs and MRTs however at the
same time traffic is still also very congested. These were enforced but as per observation,

the level of traffic obstruction is still pretty high thus implying that these solutions are

not yet enough to suffice solving one of Metro Manilas huge problems of traffic

blockage.

Several authors support the idea of road pricing and even suggest that it is the

most effective way to solve traffic congestion. For instance, Santiago coined pricing to be

the forgotten lever and mentioned that it would be the most effective and efficient way

to solve the problem of traffic congestion. Meanwhile Beatrice Schell, the director of

T&E, quoted that road pricing has long been promoted and suggested by transport

economists to solve traffic congestion in big cities. In another perspective, a study noted

that the potential for road pricing in solving the problems of congestion in the streets of

Metro Manila is very promising (Galiza and Sigua, 1999, p. 36) and thus if

implemented correctly would surely decongest Metro Manilas traffic. And finally, a

study conducted by Schneider and Weimann stressed that road pricing aims to reduce

time loss resulting from road congestion and promises a reduction of traffic congestion

when implemented (p. 134). Furthermore, road pricing should be implemented for it

proves to be effective in solving the problem of traffic congestion.

In addition to improving the condition of traffic congestion, road pricing also

provides positive effects to the society in many other aspects. This suggests that aside

from being the upmost effective way to solve Metro Manilas traffic problem, road

pricing may also deem worthy to be called an efficient practice. According to Eliasson

and Lundberg (2002) road pricing has 2 main purposes namely traffic management and

financing, and the latter further branches out to other positive outcomes (p. 8). The
revenue from road pricing can be used to fund projects such as the improvement of

public infrastructures, scholarship programs, and the like. For instance, a study stressed

that the overall economic effect of road pricing is likely to be positive as long as the tax

revenues are recycled into the economy (Lijesen, Hoen, and Verhoef, p. 16).

Meanwhile, Galiza and Sigua (1999) stressed that road pricing exhibits potential in the

generation of funds for other infrastructure projects (p.36). In addition, road pricing

may also offer positive effects to the environment for it reduces disturbances such as

emissions and noise brought about by traffic. Road pricing discourages the use of

private cars (Galiza and Sigua (1999), p. 36) thus implying lesser vehicles on the roads

upon its implementation. Lesser vehicles result to a cleaner environment and the

promotion of walking and biking to reach a certain destination thus the promotion of a

healthy lifestyle among Filipinos. With these at hand road pricing should be

implemented in Metro Manila for it not only effectively addresses the problem of traffic

congestion but also efficiently provides other advantages to the society.

Traffic congestion has definitely taken its place in the daily lives of people and I

doubt that it would remove itself without the proper mitigations. We should start

thinking efficiently and true enough with everything discussed, imposing road pricing

on private vehicles is the most effective and efficient way to address the problem. The

government should open their eyes and must enforce road pricing for the betterment of

Metro Manila.