PH is worst place to be a driver–Waze

The report should come as no surprise: drivers in the Philippines are the least satisfied in the world, according to a survey by the traffic-beating app Waze.

Waze, which claims over 90 million active users globally, released on Friday its Driver Satisfaction Index 2017, that showed the Philippines at the bottom of a list of 39 countries.

The app, which has been downloaded in 185 countries, surveyed only areas where it had more than 40,000 monthly active users.

Broader approach

Waze said it took a broader approach in the survey than other indices, which typically only consider the time spent by motorists on the road.

Considered in Waze’s index were traffic density, road safety, driver services (such as access to gas stations and parking), road quality, socioeconomic conditions (access to cars and gas prices), and so-called Wazeyness, or the “happines and helpfulness of the Waze community.”

Numerical score

Countries were given a numerical score to indicate “where in the world are the best and worst places to be a driver.”

A score of 10 meant drivers were “satisfied,” while 1 meant “miserable.”

None of the 39 countries in the 2017 index achieved a score above 8, nor did any country score below 3.

The Philippines ranked No. 39 with a score of 3.02 in the 2017 index, down from 3.13 last year. Its ranking fell from 2016, when it was the second-worst—just above El Salvador, which inched higher to the 37th spot this year with a score of 3.56.

Filipino drivers gave the lowest marks to traffic density (1.6), socioeconomic conditions (0), and Wazeyness (0.9). Relatively higher were road safety (6.97), driver services (4.34) and road quality (5.9).

Most satisfied

According to the 2017 Waze index, the top 10 countries with the most satisfied drivers were the Netherlands (7.9), France (7.85), United States (7.55), Czech Republic (7.49), Belgium (7.41), Spain (7.08), Slovakia (7.03), United Arab Emirates (7.03), Sweden (6.95) and Hungary (6.81).

Joining the Philippines in the bottom 10 were Singapore (4.04), Colombia (4.03), Guatemala (3.91), Ukraine (3.89), Panama (3.84), Russia (3.78), Indonesia (3.71), El Salvador (3.56) and Dominican Republic (3.35).

National crisis

A Department of Transportation spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The department earlier took the lead in solving the country’s traffic woes. It also proposed legislation to designate traffic as a national crisis, which is now pending with lawmakers.

The Duterte administration has proposed an aggressive infrastructure drive, including big-ticket transportation projects aimed at cutting land, sea and air congestion.

Most of the projects are covered by the government’s “build, build, build” initiative.