{"id":8709,"date":"2019-10-28T13:43:35","date_gmt":"2019-10-28T05:43:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/?p=8709"},"modified":"2020-02-27T17:39:07","modified_gmt":"2020-02-27T09:39:07","slug":"solving-the-ncr-mass-transport-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/solving-the-ncr-mass-transport-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Solving the NCR mass transport crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

The mass transport crisis is real. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Millions of commuters in the National Capital Region (NCR) suffer\ninconvenient and inefficient travel every day. Average commuting time was around\n37 minutes in 1980 and 51 minutes in 1996, according to the Japan International\nCooperation Agency (JICA). A survey by commuter group Komyut reported this\nrising to as much as 3-4 hours today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commuting can also be made even more affordable. As it is, the\npoorest low- and middle-income earners already suffer the most from the stress,\nless rest and recreation time with the family, and lower quality of life from\ndifficult travel options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main reason for the hellish daily commute of millions is the\ngovernment orientation of privatized mass transport amid irrational\nprofit-driven urban planning. This is instead of ensuring mass transport as a\npublic service. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mass transport in NCR spans rail, bus, jeepney and tricycles as\nwell as taxis and the more recent Transportation Network Vehicle Services\n(TNVS) such as Grab and Angkas. A section of lower income groups have their own\nmotorcycles, while higher income folks largely commute by private cars (and\neven helicopters).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government\u2019s approach to mass transport is overwhelmingly to\nrely on the private sector. The Light Rail Transit (LRT)-1, LRT-2 and\nPhilippine National Rail (PNR) railway lines are all government owned, although\nLRT-1\u2019s operation and maintenance is run by a private corporation. Metro Rail\nTransit (MRT)-3 is privately owned and government operated. The remaining\npublic transportation system of buses, jeepneys, tricycles, taxis, TNVS and ferries\nare all privately owned. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This privatization-driven approach has resulted in insufficient\ntrains, buses and jeepneys for the growing population, uncomfortable and poorly\nmaintained and at times unsafe vehicles, and an extremely fragmented and unreliable\npublic transportation system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poor public transport has resulted in the proliferation of taxis,\nTNVS, and, for those who can afford this, private cars and motorcycles. Road\nand parking space are so scarce that traffic reached crisis levels long ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NCR is a metropolis of 16 cities with a population of some 12.9\nmillion. It is so poorly planned that 10 of its cities are among the 50 most\ncongested on the planet, out of some 1,860 big cities worldwide. The Asian\nDevelopment Bank (ADB) notes that Metro Manila taken in its entirety is the\nmost congested city in developing Asia. Manila was meanwhile reported this year\nas already the most densely populated city in the world. NCR is a bloated\ncenter of economic activity where real estate development is dictated by the\nprofit-seeking of developers, oligarch firms, and foreign transnational\ncorporations rather than the logic of livability and ecological soundness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Employment and livelihood opportunities are scarce in the rest of\nthe country so residents stay in NCR and are joined by a steady stream of\nwork-seeking migrants from the provinces. According to the Metropolitan Manila\nDevelopment Authority (MMDA), an additional 2.7 million commute daily from\nBulacan, Cavite, Pampanga and Rizal. The resulting strain on social and\neconomic infrastructure is inevitable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All this combines to create a seemingly irresolvable mass\ntransport crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, the mass transport crisis can be solved.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There can be sufficient, efficient, convenient and affordable\npublic mass transport for all. The Duterte administration just has to\nacknowledge the crisis, take responsibility, and assert its regulatory\nauthority over the transport system and regional development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government can immediately take steps to fix\nprivatization-driven mass transport problems and irrational profit-driven urban\nplanning. The following are proposed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Address corruption and inefficiency. <\/strong>The\ngovernment agencies and corporations responsible for the poor rail service and\nfrequent breakdowns should be held accountable and penalized. Self-serving and\ninflexible contracts should be rescinded and irregularities exposed. The\noperations of transport services should be open to public scrutiny.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    • Increase the capacity and reliability\nof current rail systems. <\/strong>Rolling stock and rails have to be\nadded and upgraded. The rail systems are clearly deteriorating \u2013 average\nmonthly passenger traffic of LRT1 (11.2 million in August 2015), LRT2 (5.2\nmillion as of August 2019), MRT (8.7 million in 2018) and PNR\u2019s Metro Manila\ncommuter service (1.1 million in 2018) are all much smaller than in 2014. Fewer\ntrains are in service because of safety issues and increasingly frequent\nbreakages and accidents, among other reasons. PNR\u2019s operating distance has\nfallen to just 100 kilometers or less than one-tenth of 1,100 kilometers of\nroute in the 1970s.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
      • Add buses and jeepneys with government\nsupport. <\/strong>Buses and jeepneys are visibly overloaded\nespecially during rush hour and in heavy routes. Yet they are essential mass\ntransport options and already account for 69% of the total number of trips\ntaken in NCR every day. The average occupancy of buses is 35.3 persons and\njeepneys 10 persons compared to just 1.7 persons for cars. Jeepney\nmodernization must be done without displacing small operators and drivers and\nin a way that actually improves their conditions.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
        • Reduce the volume of private motorized\nvehicles especially in the most congested streets.<\/strong>\nAdditional public road transport requires additional road space. Private\nvehicles only account for some 31% of trips in Metro Manila per day but take up\n78% of its road space. EDSA has a maximum carrying capacity of 6,000 vehicles\nin one direction per hour but the current volume is 6,800 to as much as 7,500\nduring rush hour \u2013 yet 66% of vehicles are unfilled private cars and only 3.5%\nare over-crowded buses and jeepneys. Cycling and walking should also be\nencouraged for shorter trips.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
          • Integrate the different transport\nmodes. <\/strong>The different rail, bus, and jeepney services\nneed to be made more seamless and convenient. Coordination between the\nDepartment of Transport (DOTr), MMDA and local government units has to be\nimproved. There must also be proper regulation of bus and jeepney franchises\nand licenses. A rational mass transport scheme is needed including\ncommuter-friendly route rationalization. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
            • Improve the flow of traffic. <\/strong>Proposals\nto restrict and regulate the number of private cars on the road should be prioritized.\nHowever, other proposals such as opening up the exclusive gated communities and\nprivate subdivisions scattered across NCR that block or otherwise impede the\nsmooth flow of traffic should be considered. Mobility is a public good that the\nmajority should be able to benefit from.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
              • Arrest the explosive real estate development. <\/strong>The relentless building of office, retail, residential and leisure\/hotel space in Metro Manila has fueled the explosive wealth of real estate tycoons. Driven by business process outsourcing (BPOs) and Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), office space expansion has risen to double the historical average and Metro Manila is set to become the world\u2019s third largest office market. Real estate profits are soaring at the expense of gravely worsening congestion and straining heavily overburdened transport infrastructure.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

                These will however only be stop-gap measures in the absence of\nmore far-reaching medium- and long-term measures to develop mass transport as a\npublic service. Major improvements will only be possible with greater and more\nresponsible government ownership and control of the public mass transport\nsystem. The government needs to continuously improve its expertise and capacity\nto provide quality and cost-efficient services. Transport solutions that\nsupport industrialization and give attention to the many legitimate\nenvironmental concerns should be prioritized. The uncontrolled and worsening\ncongestion of the NCR also needs to be addressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                The following are proposed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                1. Renationalize the rail system. <\/strong>The\ngovernment has a long history of running rail transport systems and only\nstarted privatizing these in recent decades. This essential service and\nbackbone of mass transport has to be taken out of the hands of private\ncompanies and returned to public control. This will also allow for a more\norganized and unionized workforce.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
                  • Nationalization of buses and jeepneys.<\/strong>\nThese have been largely private-run in the country. The process can be phased\nstarting with cooperativization, then joint ventures, and eventually\nnationalization. Likewise, this will allow for a more organized and unionized\nworkforce.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
                    • Disperse economic activity to\nsurrounding regions. <\/strong>Moreover, livable Metro Manila cities\nand real balanced development is only possible with a general national program\nof agrarian reform, rural development and national industrialization.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

                      All these must be done according to a comprehensive and rational\nmass transport plan. This will inevitably require significant amounts of\ngovernment support. Mass transport is intrinsically expensive because of its\ncapital-intensive nature and the need for subsidies to ensure that it is affordable\nto commuters of all income levels; usage also varies widely across different\nroutes and times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      Resources can be raised for this. This should primarily be from a\nmore progressive tax system giving stress on higher direct taxes on income and\nwealth. Taxation always involves trade-offs and balancing costs and benefits. But\nthe most important operating principle is taxing according to the ability to\npay to provide a public good such as mass transport, that the majority should\nbenefit from most of all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      The grossly regressive Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN)\nlaw and its other proposals should be corrected to increase personal income and\nestate taxes on the wealthiest families and to increase corporate income taxes\non large corporations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      Further revenues for the transport system can be raised by taxing\nextremely profitable real estate interests which are currently the main\nbeneficiaries from public transport infrastructure. This can include taxing\nwindfall gains for real estate developers, differentiated rates and additional\nfees for high value properties or developments in congested areas, and reducing\nor removing fiscal incentives for Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA)-registered\noffice space in Metro Manila. Other possible revenue sources include taxing\nprivate car users more \u2013 congestion road charges, taxes on luxury or multiple\ncar ownership, parking fees, and the like can be considered more seriously. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      The mass transport crisis is just another stark symptom of deeper\nproblems of anarchic, elite-driven, and market-oriented development. It is\nclearer than ever that radical solutions are needed to solve the mass transport\ncrisis in Metro Manila. This is just a stop away from realizing that radical\nsolutions likewise are needed to solve the social and economic crisis suffered\nby tens of millions of Filipinos. ###<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      Photo from Manila Today<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                      BY SONNY AFRICA<\/p>\n

                      The mass transport crisis is real. And yes, the mass transport crisis can be solved.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":8710,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"single-nosidebarbanner.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_expiration-date-status":"saved","_expiration-date":0,"_expiration-date-type":"","_expiration-date-categories":[],"_expiration-date-options":[]},"categories":[2048,3],"tags":[1834,1902,347,342,2093,2034,2094,1463,116,2047,941],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8709"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8709"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8709\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9119,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8709\/revisions\/9119"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}