77 Metro choke points identified by MMDA

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has identified more than 70 traffic choke points in the metropolis on which the Duterte administration should focus its efforts once Congress grants it emergency powers to resolve the debilitating traffic congestion.

Seven of the 77 traffic choke points identified by the MMDA are at the intersections of the 23.8-kilometer stretch of Edsa—Balintawak Market Road, Aurora Boulevard, Ortigas Avenue, Shaw Boulevard, Guadalupe, Ayala Avenue and Taft Avenue.

Lawyer Crisanto Saruca, head of the MMDA Traffic Discipline Office, said the huge volume of vehicles plying the major thoroughfares in Metro Manila was the main contributing factor to the worsening traffic situation in the National Capital Region.

Saruca pointed out that along Edsa alone, 1,600 vehicles per lane, hour and direction were plying the highway, well above its maximum capacity of just 1,200 vehicles.

He noted that based on MMDA data, 27 percent of the 300,000 newly registered vehicles yearly, or roughly 81,000 cars, were in Metro Manila.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) estimated three years ago that the country was losing P2.4 billion daily due to traffic congestion.

Work together

While Congress has yet to give President Duterte emergency powers to resolve the traffic crisis, what the administration can do is to tell all government agencies handling traffic and traffic enforcement to work together in one direction, Saruca told reporters.

“Currently, we have our own concerns. The MMDA handles traffic flow in major thoroughfares. The local government units’ concern is on managing the secondary roads. There’s a sort of conflict of interest because we have varying approaches,” Saruca said.

Mabuhay lanes

Case in point was what happened in San Juan City in November last year when City Hall and MMDA personnel clashed after the latter was prevented from towing parked cars along Club Filipino Avenue and Annapolis Street, the city’s designated pay parking zones that also form part of the MMDA’s so-called mabuhay lanes.

“It is right that by law they have the jurisdiction under the Local Government Code, but how about our function that there should be no parking on all roads?” he said.

Harmonize laws

Once Mr. Duterte is given emergency powers, a law harmonizing this “seeming conflict” between the Local Government Code and MMDA’s mandate to handle traffic should be crafted as part of the government medium-term traffic solutions, Saruca said.

Apart from this conflict, Saruca said other factors contributing to the traffic problem included the lack of a reliable and efficient transport system, of discipline among motorists and pedestrians alike, and of drivers’ understanding of traffic rules and regulations.

Other modes

While the long-term solution is to improve the country’s mass transport system, what could be done now is to further expand other modes of travel, such as the ferry service, which according to Saruca could accommodate at most 700 passengers daily.

Under outgoing Senate President Franklin Drilon’s proposed “Transportation Crisis Act of 2016,” Mr. Duterte would be given emergency powers to use alternative methods of procurement for the “construction, repair, rehabilitation, improvement or maintenance of transportation projects” that would reduce traffic congestion.

Other choke points

Other choke points in the metropolis are in southern Metro Manila—roads leading to terminals of Ninoy Aquino International Airport such as Roxas Boulevard, Airport Road, Domestic Road, Andrews Avenue, Tramo Avenue, Sucat Avenue and Sales Road, Alabang-Zapote Road and Circulo del Mundo Avenue.

Along Circumferential Road 3 (C-3 Road): A. Mabini Street, Dagat-Dagatan Avenue, North Bay Boulevard and Radial 10 (R-10).

In northern Metro Manila: Rizal Avenue, Samson Road, Gen. Malvar Street, McArthur Highway, Karuhatan Road, General De Leon, Pio Valenzuela and General De Jesus.

In eastern Metro Manila: Santolan, Gil Fernando Bridge, Marcos Highway, San Juan Intersection, Pasig Intersection and Meralco Avenue.

In Quezon City: Boni Serrano Avenue, Araneta Avenue, Timog Avenue, E. Rodriguez Avenue, Katipunan Avenue, C.P. Garcia Avenue, Magsaysay Avenue, Capitol Intersection, Luzon flyover, J.P. Rizal, Ayala Heights Rotunda, Miriam gate and Ateneo gate.

In Manila: Bonifacio Drive, Roxas Boulevard, España, Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard, Jose Abad Santos Avenue, Claro M. Recto Avenue, Sen. Osmeña Highway and Rizal Avenue. With a report from Arianne Cardiño