{"id":9857,"date":"2020-06-26T22:09:33","date_gmt":"2020-06-26T14:09:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/?p=9857"},"modified":"2020-06-27T08:13:06","modified_gmt":"2020-06-27T00:13:06","slug":"the-anomaly-of-transport-modernization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/the-anomaly-of-transport-modernization\/","title":{"rendered":"The anomaly of transport modernization"},"content":{"rendered":"

First of a two-part series<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The transport chaos on the\nfirst day of the less restrictive general community quarantine (GCQ) was\npainful to watch. With limited public transport, thousands of Metro Manila\ncommuters eager to recover lost jobs and incomes were practically left on their\nown to figure out how to get to work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Department of Transportation\n(DOTr) secretary Arthur Tugade said that the government has \u201cconcrete plans\u201d\nfor GCQ. He also had to say that the government is not \u201csacrificing the people\u201d\njust to revive the economy, because that was what it seemed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The recommendation by the\nInter-Agency Task Force (IATF) to transition to GCQ was apparently based more\non the compulsion to reopen business than on categorical facts of virus\ncontainment. The Duterte government was also reportedly already \u201cout of funds\u201d for\nsocioeconomic relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government once again\nresorted to the military. The military and police deployed trucks and cars to\nferry the stranded passengers, breaking distancing protocol and betraying\ngovernment\u2019s lack of preparedness. Then, the usual victim blaming \u2013 the\nMetropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and Malaca\u00f1ang blamed commuters\nfor the mayhem. Then, the DOTr made a U-turn from its initial pronouncement and\nsaid that it never promised to meet the transport needs of the public under\nGCQ. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the majority of poor\ncommuters, what is more painful to see now is how the Duterte government, not\nbacked by science, is on the verge of banning the traditional jeepney from the\nroad forever and insisting that modernization is the cure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there is anything that\nCOVID-19 has emphasized, it is the fact that the Philippine transport sector is\nin its worst crisis \u2013 a reality that the Duterte administration had repeatedly\ndenied before the pandemic. If the economy has to transition to a genuinely\nbetter shape, the government has to address the basic woes of the transport sector.\nVice versa, if the mass transport system has to be more efficient, the economy\nhas to be transitioned to a genuinely better one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But we seem to be stuck in\nour old problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Havoc in the new normal<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DOTr resumed public\ntransport operations in two phases. During the first phase, trains and bus\naugmentation (which means bus loading and unloading at designated stations of\nMRT3), taxis, transport network vehicle services (TNVS), and point-to-point\n(P2P) buses were allowed with limits on the number of passengers. Tricycles were\nalso allowed, subject to the approval of the concerned local government units\n(LGUs). Bicycles have also been encouraged. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the second phase,\npublic utility buses (PUB) and modern public utility vehicles or jeepneys\n(PUV\/PUJ) were allowed with a limited number of passengers in rationalized\nroutes. There are currently 30 routes from previously 96 routes for PUB and 34\nnew routes for the modern jeepneys. The DOTr will open more routes for the\nmodern PUV in the coming days. Meanwhile, the traditional jeepneys remain\nprohibited from plying their routes unless seen as \u201croadworthy\u201d. They are also\nthe least priority and will only be used to fill in transportation gaps that arise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Utility vans (UV) express\nwill be allowed to operate with limited passengers as soon as more modern PUV\nroutes are added. Provincial buses remain prohibited from entering Metro\nManila.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DOTr has also given some\n\u201cnew normal\u201d guidelines, such as wearing of face masks at all times, cashless\npayments to avoid physical contact, use of thermal scanners, provision of\nalcohol and sanitizers, use of disinfection and establishment of disinfection\nfacilities, and contact tracing. Costs for all of these are of course to be\nshouldered by the private transport operators and the passengers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apart from the added\ninconvenience these adjustments bring to the already unreliable mass transport\nsystem, there has also been lots of confusion on other relevant guidelines. The\nPhilippine National Police (PNP) for instance prohibits backrides on motorcycles\neven for couples, yet some members of the police themselves are seen violating\nthe rule. Interior and local government secretary Eduardo A\u00f1o attempted to get\naround the prohibition by suggesting the use of sidecars but these are not\nallowed on the metro\u2019s major highways. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Promoting the use of bicycles\nhas not been accompanied by government policies to designate bike lanes and road-sharing\nwith cyclists for a safe and efficient bike commute. Ironically, even the\ninitiative by bikers\u2019 groups and advocates to marshal the bike traffic along\nthe \u201ckiller highway\u201d Commonwealth Avenue was fined by the MMDA for \u201ctraffic\nobstruction\u201d. Some LGUs are also reviving their old bike registration\nordinances to collect fees even if they have not yet provided the needed\nsupport to bikers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the most glaring havoc is\nin the future of the traditional jeepneys \u2013 the ones that do not pass the DOTr\u2019s\nstandard of \u201cmodern\u201d \u2013 which now hangs in the balance. Jeepneys were prohibited\nduring the lockdown and are now under threat of being banned permanently from\nthe roads in the name of the \u201cnew normal\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pandemic has obviously\ngiven the DOTr the opportunity to push for its \u201cold normal\u201d fixation on a\nmodernization program that it has been proposing even before COVID-19. The\nmodernization program revolves around: the digitization of fare and toll\ncollection systems, vehicle registration, franchising, licensing, and\nnavigation and positioning systems; routes rationalization; the transformation\nof EDSA; and jeepney phaseout. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is premised on easing\nMetro Manila\u2019s notorious traffic and pollution. But it is clearly a business-minded\nproposal that promotes the sales of private cars, modern PUVs and modern PUBs,\nand the privatization of transportation infrastructure. It is private\ntransport-centric, while our obvious problem is the lack of an efficient and\nreliable public mass transport system. Now that the perennial road congestion\nis aggravated by physical distancing, the solution still seems to disfavor the\nmass of working class commuters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Principles of E-R-A-S-E<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The country badly needs an efficient,\nreliable, affordable, safe and environment-friendly public mass transport\nsystem. With or without the pandemic and physical distancing, these features of\na public mass transport system should be ever-present for real and sustainable\ndevelopment. A strong government role is crucial in this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Efficiency means that we are\ntransported by vehicles through the shortest distance and in the shortest time possible.\nThis also means less fuel use, less vehicle emissions, less costs, and less\ntraffic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reliability means getting the mass of\ncommuters to their destinations on time, with the least difference between the\nanticipated amount of travel time and the actual one. The crucial fact in\nreliability is that a large number of people rely on public transportation for\ntheir mobility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Affordability and accessibility mean\nthat the majority of the population who are wage workers and informal earners\ncan afford public transportation and can easily avail of it from their dwelling\nand work places. This also includes facilities for persons with disability and\nsenior citizens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Safety includes measures that prevent\nharm to the riding public and create pedestrian-friendly conditions and\ninfrastructure to reduce accidents and traffic deaths and to improve public\nhealth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, environment-friendly means\npublic mass transport promotes healthier cities and living spaces. This\nincludes the need to use clean and energy-efficient technologies and fuel for\nmotorized transport on one hand, and the promotion of non-motorized modes such\nas walking and cycling on the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crisis is real<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The country\u2019s public mass transport\nsystem is far from having these positive features. This reflects how the government\nhas defaulted on its responsibility to ensure people\u2019s mobility, and shows the\ngeneral lack of national economic planning for sustainable development. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our problem may be summarized as\nfollows: 1) Mass transportation is left in the hands of private providers,\nincluding private rail corporations, bus franchises and single proprietors; 2)\nDeregulation is an operative principle in the entire sector, with the government\u2019s\nrole reduced to licensing, franchising and the like; 3) There is a lack of\nurban planning based on rural development and national industrialization that genuinely\ndecongests the cities; and 4) Our mass transport system is corporate-driven,\npromoting the interests of infrastructure, transport, automobile and rail\ncorporations as well as the profitability of real estate corporations, shopping\nmalls, fare collecting banks, and the rest of the service-oriented and trading\neconomy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These problems manifest in many ways.\nThe various modes of transportation are not fully linked, and there is heavy\nreliance on the \u2018last-mile\u2019 modes such as jeepneys, tricycles and even\npedicabs. There is more road than rail transport, which is an indication of\nquite an unsustainable and expensive transport system. On the other hand, rail\nis privatized instead of being government-owned, controlled and operated, thus\nit is profit-driven and maintained by user-fees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fares are high as a consequence of\nprivatized transport. According to the latest available data from the Family\nIncome and Expenditure Survey in 2015, passenger transport for land travel eat\nup 7% of total non-food expenses of families in the National Capital Region\n(NCR). This covers fares for railway, jeepney, bus, taxi, tricycle and pedicab\nrides. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Transport is unreliable, with roads saturated\nand the quality of rail service poor. This is not to mention that roads are\nunsafe and rail accidents and breakdowns are frequent. Air pollution in the\nmetropolis is one of the worst in the world, according to the World Health\nOrganization. Lastly, there is a high volume of vehicles on the road.\nNavigation app Waze identified the Philippines as having \u201cthe worst traffic on\nearth\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The anatomy of the transport mess<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Metro Manila or the National Capital\nRegion (NCR) has a total land area of 63,600 hectares and population of 12.9 million\nthat swells to about 15 million by daytime. It accounts for one-third of the\nnational economy and is home to about one-fourth of the urban population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Metro Manila has six conferential roads\nand 10 radial roads. The radial roads do not intersect one another and\nintersect the conferential roads not more than twice. There are interchanges\nthat separate these roads, but there are still missing sections in these\ninterchanges. There are fully grade separated expressways in the north (NLEX),\nsouth (SLEX), and on the southwestern part (Cavitex) that connect Metro Manila\nto neighboring provinces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These roads and highways were constructed to lead traffic\nin and out of the NCR. But lack of national economic planning has weakened job\ncreation, increased rural poverty and displacement, and concentrated economic\nactivities in the NCR. The region is the most congested city out of 278 cities\nin developing Asia, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The region\nis brimming with urban blight and poverty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are the more recently built Metro\nManila Skyway and Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Expressway to\ndecongest SLEX and speed up travel to NAIA, the country\u2019s major international\ngateway. These are also obviously to cope with the high traffic brought on by\ngovernment\u2019s labor export policy. The country\u2019s international airports process\nthe some 6,000 Filipino migrant workers who leave the country every day, which\nis more than twice as many as new jobs created locally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are more than three million\nregistered motor vehicles in the NCR as of 2019, which accounts for almost\none-fourth of the country\u2019s total. This is a 9.7% increase from 2018 and a 28%\nincrease from 2016, yet the urban space is finite and unchanging. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest data for vehicles disaggregated\nby type is as of 2016. It shows that motorcycles or tricycles comprised almost\n40% of registered vehicles in NCR. Utility vehicles follow at 36% and cars and\nsports utility vehicles are at almost 30 percent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, the latest\nstatistics on units for land transportation services is as of 2012, which shows\nthat PUJs accounted for most of the franchises and units. There were 49,305 PUJ\nfranchises and 50,153 PUJ units, which only shows that jeepney operators are\nsmall-scale and own only a little more than one unit. There were no registered\nPUBs in the NCR at that time, but there are 14,500 registered buses by 2016. If\nwe try to extrapolate the 2012 data, considering that the number of PUJs almost\nremains the same over time, it means that PUJs and PUBs accounted for only 7.8%\nof registered utility vehicles in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The MMDA recorded an average daily\nvolume of 405,882 vehicles plying the main thoroughfare EDSA in 2019, an\nincrease of 22,054 vehicles from the previous year. About 63% of this volume\nare cars (255,732 units). PUBs make up only about 3% of total EDSA traffic,\nwhile PUJs are not allowed along EDSA. There is therefore no statistical basis to\nblame mainly the PUBs and PUJs for the traffic and transport anarchy in Metro\nManila.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traffic demand is at 12.8 million trips\nin Metro Manila, based on a study by the Japan International Cooperation Agency\n(JICA). Public transport accounts for 69% of total trips. The lesser share\n(31%) is done by private mode, and yet it is this mode that takes up 78% of\nroad space. The traffic volume within the metropolis already exceeds the\ncapacities of existing roads. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In terms of rail, Metro Manila has one\ncommuter line (the Philippine National Railway or PNR) and three rapid rail\nlines (LRT1, LRT2 and MRT3). It has the least number of rail lines and the\nshortest urban rail system (51 kilometers) among 11 major Asian cities. The\nrail lines are not fully linked, only compounding the problem of an intermodal\ntransport system where Metro Manila commuters use a variety of modes of\ntransport and take an average of two to three transfers to reach their\ndestinations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

MRT3 is privately owned like the PUBs,\nPUJs, taxis, TNVS, P2P, and UV express. The PNR, LRT1 and LRT2 are the only\ngovernment transportation assets, although the operations and maintenance of\nLRT1 are privatized. The government does not subsidize fares, and in fact increases\nfares to attract private contractors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nrapid rail system is the epitome of the inefficient, unreliable, unsafe and\nunsustainable public mass transport system in NCR. It is bogged down by\nfrequent breakdowns, diminishing numbers of operational trains, accidents,\ninappropriate trains, and even non-working elevators and escalators. It is also\nin the center of corruption controversies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where\ndoes the commuter figure in all of this mess? The government through all its\nnumerous transport agencies cannot even give a complete picture. An oft-cited\nstudy by JICA estimates that 39% of\npassengers\u2019 trips in Metro Manila and nearby provinces are by jeepney and 38%\nare by tricycle. This indicates over-reliance on what has only been a coping\nmechanism for lack of system. Buses account for 13.6% and trains for only 8.6%\nof the number of trips by public mode. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Per day, LRT1 and MRT3 carry\nabout half a million passengers each, while LRT2 ferries more than 200,000\npassengers. Taking into account the number of registered buses and the\nestimated vehicle capacity by the JICA study, it may be surmised that buses\nalso carry half a million passengers. Using the same extrapolation, jeepneys\nhave the same passenger load.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Privatizing the rapid rail lines and phasing out the ever-reliable traditional jeepneys are therefore not solutions to the transport crisis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last part of this series <\/a>will discuss how government uses the pandemic to justify pre-COVID programs like the jeepney phaseout and Build, Build, Build that will further aggravate the socioeconomic crisis, and what steps government should take to genuinely address the country\u2019s mass transport troubles.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FEATURES<\/p>\n

If there is anything that COVID-19 has emphasized, it is the fact that the Philippine transport sector is in its worst crisis \u2013 a reality that the Duterte administration had repeatedly denied before the pandemic. If the economy has to transition to a genuinely better shape, the government has to address the basic woes of the transport sector. Vice versa, if the mass transport system has to be more efficient, the economy has to be transitioned to a genuinely better one. <\/p>","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":9859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"single-withbanner.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2048,3],"tags":[2218,347,2291,1106,2292,1105,2093,2098,2060],"class_list":["post-9857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-banner","category-features","tag-covid-19-response","tag-duterte-administration","tag-jeepney","tag-jeepney-modernization","tag-jeepney-drivers","tag-jeepney-phaseout","tag-mass-transport-crisis","tag-philippine-mass-transport","tag-sustainable-mass-transport","wpautop"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-24 10:25:46","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"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\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9857"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9857\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9870,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9857\/revisions\/9870"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibon.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}