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<TD><SPAN class=headline id=UsrStory1_lblTitleArticle>Our traffic
mess costs P140B</SPAN><BR><BR><SPAN
id=UsrStory1_lblBodyArticle><B><FONT face="Times New Roman">
<P>By RENE Q. BAS</P>
<P>Sunday Times Editor </P></B>
<P>Our traffic mess costs us, says the NGO Citizens’ Traffic Watch,
echoing a World Bank-commissioned study many years ago, more than
P15-billion pesos yearly. But the Department of Transportation and
Communication gives a higher figure of P140 billion, counting direct
and indirect economic losses due to traffic congestion. Some,
including this writer, believe it’s much more than P140 billion.
</P>
<P>The National Center for Transportation Studies’ Professors
Ricardo Sigua and Noriel Tiglao six years ago wrote a paper on the
"Economic Impact of Traffic Congestion in Metro Manila." They based
their computations on a survey that was conducted by the Metro
Manila Urban Integration Study, or MMUTIS, which up to now is the
most comprehensive guide used by transport planners who have not
lost the hope that a proper master plan for an integrated Metro
Manila vehicular traffic system could still be adopted and made to
work. The survey involved 58,250 households in Metro Manila and
Cavite, Laguna, Rizal and Bulacan. </P>
<P>One hundred billion pesos was the estimate Sigua and Tiglao came
up with of the economic cost of traffic congestion in the
metropolis. They factored in the value of time lost by workers as
well as managers and the additional expenses for fuel and
maintenance of vehicles. Tiglao thought P100 billion was a
conservative figure. He and Sigua did not factor in the health and
environmental costs and foreign investments lost. </P>
<P>At that time, the cost of gasoline per liter was less than half
of today’s P45-plus per liter. So I am confident that the economic
cost of trip delays caused by traffic congestion is much more than
the DOTC’s P140-billion figure. </P>
<P>The "direct and indirect economic losses" include these costs to
the economy of losses in everything affected by traffic jams and
accidents caused by our traffic mess: </P>
<UL>
<LI>• The cost of fuel wasted on stop-and-go and snail-paced
traffic on EDSA and other major roads of Metro Manila (and major
cities like Cebu). </LI>
<LI>• The lost productivity of workers and managers stuck in
traffic instead of doing their work at their desks and their
factories or shops. </LI>
<LI>• The wages and salaries of larger than necessary complements
of police officers and traffic aides doing duty in the most
problematic areas at rush hours. </LI>
<LI>• The loss of US-dollar business that happens when a traffic
jam makes Filipino entrepreneurs fail to arrive on time for
appointments with their foreign buyers. </LI>
<LI>• The cost of medicine for those who, exposed to long hours of
the toxic-air commute in jeeps and buses, come down with severe
colds, allergies and asthma attacks and other lung diseases. </LI>
<LI>• The loss of the good health of our schoolchildren subjected
to motor-traffic pollution. </LI>
<LI>• The increased wear and tear of motor vehicles traveling at
low gear most of the time. </LI>
<LI>• The increased occurrence of accidents and fights brought on
by frayed nerves and irritable dispositions caused by traffic
jams, traffic mismanagement and bad drivers (who, we must not
forget, are as blameful as anybody for our traffic mess). </LI></UL>
<P>"While the road accident situation is slowly improving in the
high-income industrialized countries," says Tiglao, "most developing
countries such as the Philippines face a worsening situation. The
continuous socioeconomic growth over the years is causing increasing
demand for transport service including road transport. With the
number of vehicles on the road growing rapidly, more road conflicts
develop vis-à-vis traffic accidents. </P><B>
<P>Engineering vs. accidents </P></B>
<P>"Most of these accidents result from human error and carelessness
on the part of the drivers or pedestrians. However, the probability
of occurrence, and its severity, can often be reduced by applying
proper traffic-control devices, and good roadway design features.
The success or failure of such control devices and design
specifications, however, depends extensively on the analysis of
traffic accident records at specific locations. It has long been
recognized that the most effective means toward accident reduction
lies in a systematic and scientific approach based on the use of
accurate and reliable traffic accident data. But the quantity of
data important for the analysis is not always sufficient </P>
<P>"Much of the accident information available in police files is
all too often incomplete and therefore has not been used to the
fullest extent. In addition, records are also needed to provide
facts to guide programs including enforcement, education,
maintenance, vehicle inspection, emergency medical services, and
engineering to improve streets and highways." </P>
<P>In 2005 a total of 11,425 traffic accidents occurred, the PNP’s
Traffic Management Group records. In the first two months of 2006,
there were 1,364 vehicular accidents, many of these with fatalities.
</P><B>
<P>Motorcycle accidents </P></B>
<P>Motorcycles have increasingly figured in the accident rate. Last
year, 2,798 or 24 percent of all motor-vehicle accidents involved
motorcycles. In Metro Manila alone, 250 persons died from motorcycle
accidents over the last three years, or an average of 83 fatalities
a year. </P>
<P>A total of 8,968 nonfatal injuries caused by motor vehicle
accidents were recorded over the last three years, or an average of
2,989 injuries a year. </P>
<P>Bothered by these data, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel has filed a bill
requiring the national and local governments to designate an
appropriate motorcycle lane on major roads. </P>
<P>A gigantic economic loss hits the whole nation because many
foreign investors are turned off by our traffic mess. </P>
<P>Our traffic congestion, with its concomitant economic and health
hazards, has been mentioned time and again in country reports
written by foreign-bank economists for their clients. The foreign
chambers in the Philippines last year issued a joint statement that
brought up the terrible state of traffic in Metro Manila as a
problem they would like to see dramatically improved. </P>
<P>The most recent document giving this message comes to us from the
Japanese. </P>
<P>Last January the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry
publicized the findings of a "Comparative Study of the Climate of
Investment Between the Philippines and Thailand." The comments about
our traffic condition are in the section on infrastructure.</P><B>
<P>Bangkok beats Manila </P></B>
<P>Many Filipinos, guided by news they read 10 years ago about the
horrible Bangkok traffic, will learn to be more accurate when they
read what the Japanese have to say. </P>
<P>"Infrastructure is the most important factor when foreign
companies operating in Southeast Asia evaluate a country’s
environment of investment. A recent survey of Japanese companies in
the region showed a general evaluation that Thailand is well ahead
of the Philippines in the development of electric power, water and
sewage system, telecommunications, roads and ports. In our
comparative study, too, the Philippines is way behind Thailand in
almost all vital infrastructures such as roads, ports, airports and
electricity, which are indispensable to production and
transportation operations of foreign investors. </P>
<P>"The following examples may highlight the difference in
infrastructure development of the two countries: </P>
<P>"1. Share of investment in infrastructure in GDP: </P>
<P>"Thailand has been spending five to six percent of its GDP to
develop infrastructure, while in the Philippines, investment in
infrastructure has been two to three percent of its GDP. </P>
<P>"2. Development of tollways and pavement of national roads: </P>
<P>"In Thailand, tollways extend as long as 333km. In the
Philippines, tollway extension is only 146km. Ninety-eight percent
of national roads are being paved in Thailand; in the Philippines,
only 70 percent of its national roads are paved." </P>
<P>The study covers all the items under the heading "infrastructure"
in all of which the Philippines pales by comparison and finally
delivers this judgment about the traffic situation here. </P><B>
<P>Projects barely moving </P></B>
<P>"In terms of mass transit in the National Capital Region, 700,000
people use the system in Bangkok daily while in Metro Manila,
authorities report 800,000 passengers a day. In Bangkok, projects to
extend its subway and sky train systems are clearly moving and the
daily load of passengers of its mass transit system will likely
surpass that of Metro Manila as projects to extend mass transit
system here are barely moving. </P>
<P>"As shown in the list of examples above, it may be difficult to
expect the Philippines to catch up with Thailand in infrastructure
development in a short time span. Nevertheless, there are some areas
of infrastructure development that the Philippines can expeditiously
implement. The JCCIPI would like to recommend the following areas
for expeditious implementation in the Philippines. We would also
like to emphasize that local and foreign business communities,
including JCCIPI, continue to watch if the government of the
Philippines commits itself to infrastructure development and to the
speed of its implementation."</P>
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style="PADDING-RIGHT: 4px; PADDING-LEFT: 4px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 4px; PADDING-TOP: 4px"><A
class=blue
href="http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=47891"><STRONG>Do
they really want to solve the problem? </STRONG></A><BR>By The
Manila Times Research Staff <BR><BR>In March 1996, as the efforts to
solve the traffic mess intensified, the Metro Manila Urban
Transportation Integration Study was launched with technical
assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency. Its
basic goal then as now is to set up a firmly founded and constantly
updated database. <BR><BR>The government and its authors hoped that
the study’s well of information would then serve as the guide of all
the government agencies (MMDA, DOTC, DPWH, PNP-TMG, LTO, LTFRB,
etc.) and private-sector companies concerned with traffic-congestion
relief to draw up a master plan to be carried out until 2015 (from
which time a new plan for the succeeding decade would again be
devised). <BR><A class=blue>The Manila Times (8/20/2006 12:34:18
AM)</A> </TD></TR>
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style="PADDING-RIGHT: 4px; PADDING-LEFT: 4px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 4px; PADDING-TOP: 4px"><A
class=blue
href="http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=47890"><STRONG>LRT
and MRT: Doing what they do well </STRONG></A><BR>By Katrice R.
Jalbuena<BR>The Manila Times <BR><BR>The total population of Metro
Manila and environs is about 15 million. By 2010 Metro Manila’s
population will reach 11.3 million and its surrounding areas, 11.4
million, bringing the total population of the metropolis to 22.7
million. <BR><BR>This trend in urbanization—urban planners
immediately saw in the eighties—requires mass-transit trains. <BR><A
class=blue>The Manila Times (8/20/2006 12:34:09 AM)</A> </TD></TR>
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style="PADDING-RIGHT: 4px; PADDING-LEFT: 4px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 4px; PADDING-TOP: 4px"><A
class=blue
href="http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=47889"><STRONG>MMDA:
Unwelcome do-gooder </STRONG></A><BR>By Cris Malifier Reyes<BR>The
Manila TImes <BR><BR>Chairman Bayani Fernando of the Metro Manila
Development Authority—by law—is the point man in solving the Metro
Manila traffic mess. Unfortunately, he is often challenged in turf
battles by some mayors of the cities of the National Capital Region.
<BR><BR>Fernando has been an innovative and hard-working
antitraffic-mess activist. Expectedly, some of his ideas have not
gone down well with populists and the leftists. But he is also
unceasingly criticized—the word should be “berated”—by some Metro
Manila mayors. <BR><BR>The law creating the MMDA makes him overseer
and doer of the things that are normally the work of mayors and the
police: traffic management, garbage management, flood control, the
metropolis’ beautification and some other areas of work. <BR><A
class=blue>The Manila Times (8/20/2006 12:33:52 AM)</A> </TD></TR>
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style="PADDING-RIGHT: 4px; PADDING-LEFT: 4px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 4px; PADDING-TOP: 4px"><A
class=blue
href="http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=47888"><STRONG>Why
Pinoys make lousy drivers </STRONG></A><BR>In the old days the folks
called it “abilidad,” the ability to put one over a person or the
government. Being “wais” (wise) enabled one to circumvent the rules
or the law. The current word is “palusot,” which means the same
thing: getting ahead at somebody’s expense or abbreviating the rules
to achieve your goal. <BR><A class=blue>The Manila Times (8/20/2006
12:20:22 AM)</A> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><BR></TD><!--center column end--><!--margin-->
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