Question 2:

Describe the transportation system in your local city/municipality, their ways of traffic
management, planning and enforcement, implementation of traffic policies, comprehensive land
use plan for transportation and other future expansions, and anything that relates or might produce
traffic. How can you relate these policies to the existing traffic conditions in your local
city/municipality? As a future civil engineer, what measures can you propose to improve traffic in
heavily congested areas?

Answer:
Traffic and related environmental problems have reached serious proportions in Metro
Manila, affecting its more than 10 million residents. People who often walk, use buses, jeepneys,
and tricycles, are the worst affected. In an article that I have read the other day said that the “Metro
manila and other major cities are experiencing major traffic congestion because high economic
and population growth in the last decade were not accompanied by commensurate and timely
investment in infrastructure.” In my own personal experience, the traffic now here in Cavite was
way worse than the traffic 5 years ago. Today, lots of commercial establishments have been built
around the city, attracting more people, increased amount of population leads to traffic congestion.
Another factor is the Longer commuting. An important factor behind this trend is related
to residential affordability as housing located further away from central is more affordable. From
our house here in Dasmariñas City, Cavite. I am travelling more than two hours every day to get
to school in Manila, which is about 3 cities away where I came from. It’s a journey that should
only take around half an hour or an hour under light traffic. That is a total of more than four hours
of on the road a day, depending on the traffic situation, especially on Mondays and Fridays, and if
there is no road accident or bad weather. Along with the hundreds and thousands of bus commuters,
I have to deal with long lines, and frequent delays due to the high demand of public transportation
in the city.
But apart from these problems in our public transportation, I can see the local government
and the city government are trying their best to improve the transportation especially on the
expressways. One notable traffic scheme I observed is that they are implementing the “Buhos”
System in different parts of the Cavite. This is where one side of the traffic is stopped, and the
other side is made to counterflow. Obviously, there are advantages and disadvantages. The
advantage of these scheme is that it will avoid traffic congestion since the larger density of vehicles
will occupy more lanes. On the other hand, the disadvantage of this scheme is that this is too
dangerous because the vehicles are counterflowing and there is a higher chance of accident. But
this scheme is not implemented all the time. It depends on the road conditions and the volume of
the vehicle in that specific area.
 The Department of Transportation (DOTr) gas implemented various transportation projects
this year aimed at ensuring ease of travel among us commuters and improving the traffic situation
in the country.
These projects are part of the “Build, Build, Build” program of the administration, and as
a future Civil Engineer, this is one of the most effective measures to improve as it aims to build
vital infrastructures seeking to provide connectivity in various areas of the country to promote
economic growth and improve traffic in heavily congested areas.