People drive cars (those who can afford it) in NCR because it’s very inconvenient to use the public transit system. We have 4 major train lines but even that is far from enough.
The idea is not to move machines but to move people and products.
The recommended solutions:
Mass transportation - improve existing and build more lines. Much more.
“If you provide good alternatives for public transport, you won’t have a traffic problems.” - Jaime Lerner, former Mayor of Curitiba Brazil
The long term solution that has the highest impact are mass transit system like trains. Trains can move millions of people per day. The Osaka Metro moves 13 Million persons per day.
Our daily ridership on our existing train lines is only about 600k, while Singapore which is even smaller in land area than Metro Manila is moving people at a rate of 3.4 Million per day.
When we reach a point where we can now reach our destinations faster than driving a car, then we can forget about driving cars. Traffic will be reduced if we have efficient mass transit.
When that happens and if some are still insisting on driving cars? Then we must implement further drastic measures.
Congestion charging — collect fee from motorists per use of road
Congestion charging is the collection of fees from motorists who want to pass through a designated area of the city. This is similar to what Singapore and the city of London have done. To be effective, it should be automated without having to resort to barriers like tollways - detection should be done using sensors and cameras. The registered owner of any vehicle who passes by the controlled area will have an added bill to pay in his monthly dues to be paid in the succeeding month.
Collected fees can be used to further improve mass transportation.
Encourage business establishments to set up businesses away from already congested places like Metro Manila.
Metro Manila is one of the most populated metropolis in the world and it will continue to have an exponential increase in problems due to population increase, that includes problems in transportation. Other cities should encourage people to set up businesses by improving ease of doing businesses in other cities. Improvements such as better internet, people friendly cities, better mobility, cleaner air, efficient and honest government service so that businesses and people are willing to live and work in that location. There are already growing communities like the Evo City in Cavite, Alviera in Pampanga, Nuvali in Laguna, and Arca South in Taguig, Iloilo Business Park, Cebu Park District to name a few.
Build protected bicycle lanes to encourage people to use bicycles for short distances (less than 4 km)
I really prefer riding a bicycle when I am alone traveling but sometimes it is dangerous because there are very few bike lanes in Metro Manila and you are forced to jostle with motorized vehicles. Even fewer are protected bike lanes. If only it is safer to bike, people will ride bikes more often.
Strictly enforce existing laws and fire corrupt traffic enforcers
The other problem is lack of law enforcement. You only see traffic enforcers in intersections where drivers are prone to make mistakes like the intersections of Quirino Avenue and SSHWay or V Mapa corner Old Santa Mesa. The traffic enforcers are far more interested in getting their commissions instead of ensuring a smooth flow of traffic.
Retrofit the existing PNR to haul cargo at night
Trucks occupy very large areas of the available road space during daytime. These trucks are needed to move goods but they are very inefficient to use in cities. The existing PNR tracks can be used to move cargo at night because they’re no longer used to move people between 10 PM to 5 AM.
While these are potentially doable ideas, it still takes a government with integrity to do it.
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