Is the MMDA’s coding scheme still effective?
That’s actually a title of a paper or article I co-wrote before. At the time, which was over a decade ago, we were revisiting certain travel demand management (TDM) measures being implemented in Metro Manila. We already concluded that the effectiveness of the number coding scheme has been reduced mainly as people bought a second, third or more vehicles to be able to use any vehicle on coding days.
Since then, coding’s effectiveness continued to be eroded by a combination of increasing vehicle ownership (including more vehicles operating as ride hails) and the rapid increase of motorcycles.
More recently, government decided to give push for electric and hybrid vehicles. The MMDA made these coding exempt, which perhaps is an example of instituting a policy with unintended consequences. I say unintended here because the agency seems oblivious to the fact that people will likely get that second, third or more vehicle. And that will be an EV or hybrid. Manufacturers are already marketing these as ‘coding exempt’ and they are making a good sales pitch here.
Maybe it’s time to revisit coding and re formulate it? But then coding wasn’t supposed to be sustained as long as it has. Government should be more aggressive and decisive for public transport in order to retain and increase mode shares that have also been reduced by more private vehicle and motorcycle use.
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Welcome arch in Iloilo
We had a small adventure when we were in Iloilo last month. We traveled to the last town to the west just before the border with the Province of Antique. I was expecting to see welcome arches as we crossed one town after another. There was only one town that had this – Guimbal. And practically the whole stretch of the national highway had a signature of the town’s motto that had got something to do about it like a rising sun.
There’s another quite unusual landmark there that I will also be writing about soon. I will leave my readers in suspense for now.
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Increase in parking rates at NAIA
A friend shared this notice about the increase in parking rates at NAIA.
Parking at any of the terminals has been quite difficult if not horrendous. Everyone seems to be bringing their car to the airport for pick up and drop offs as well as leaving them for a night or more while traveling abroad or somewhere in the country. And then there are those who park there because the rates are supposed to be cheaper than the hotels and mall around the airport (e.g., the case of Terminal 3). Will the increase in the rates discourage unwanted or unnecessary parking? Perhaps not because people are still quite dependent on cars as their primary mode in and out of NAIA.
Access to the airport remains road-dependent. Granted there are many options like ride hailing, airport bus and taxis, these are all road based. They share the same roads that are often congested. The tollways are not enough to ease traffic in the area, which aside from airport generated trips include those from offices and industries in the area.
Too long has the need for a rail access for the terminals and government has failed to provide it. It would at least have engaged private sector for this provision but it took so long. Perhaps the Metro Manila subway will change that but we have to wait a long while to find out.
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What’s new in Panglao Airport? -Part 1
We were in Panglao, Bohol last April and I was disappointed to see there were no shops after entering the pre departure area. Also, there were only 2 kiosks inside. One selling the usual siomai, hotdog and noodles kind of food and the other operated by a popular hotel/resort.
I am glad that this time, there are more shops and eating options after the final security check.
More on these new shops and stalls in the next post.
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On congestion due to school drop-offs
I found this rather interesting article about congestion at school drop-offs in the US:
Hurley, K. (September 16, 2024) “How School Drop-Off Became a Nightmare,” The Atlantic, https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2024/09/school-drop-off-cars-chaos/679869/?utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share [Last accessed: 9/26/2024]
To quote from the article:
“Today, more parents in the United States drive kids to school than ever, making up more than 10 percent of rush-hour traffic. The result is mayhem that draws ire from many groups. For families, the long waits are at best a stressful time suck and at worst a work disruptor. Some city planners take the car line as proof of our failure to create the kind of people-centered neighborhoods families thrive in. Climate scientists might consider it a nitrogen-oxide-drenched environmental disaster. Scolds might rail at what they see as helicopter parents chaperoning their kids everywhere. Some pediatricians might point out the health threats: sedentary children breathing fumes or at risk of being hit by a car.”
The situation described in the article is actually already happening for quite a long time now in the Philippines and mostly at private schools. You have the same issues with the traffic congestion and road safety risks faced by schoolchildren in schools like Ateneo and LaSalle. The more ‘elite’ public schools like the science high schools may also have similar concerns. Can these be really addressed at the local level or is there a deeper, more complicated problem that needs to be tackled here (just to clarify that my questions are for our case here in the Philippines and not in the US)?
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On transportation and global health – article share
I was supposed to write about the keynote lecture delivered during the 30th Annual Conference of the Transportation Science Society of the Philippines (TSSP). I am sharing instead an article written by Dr. Renzo Guinto who is an Associate Professor at the SingHealth Duke-NUS Global Health Institute based at the National University of Singapore.
Here is the link to his article on the Philippine Daily Inquirer: Health at the center of transport and mobility
I will not quote from the article and leave it to my readers to read and appreciate the articles content.
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30th Annual Conference of the Transportation Science Society of the Philippines (TSSP)
I was not able to post on the conference itself but it was definitely a success including the pre conference workshop (Workshop for Young Researchers or WYRe) held for the benefit of young researchers in transportation science.
Here is the link to the TSSP’s official page featuring the program for the Technical Sessions: https://ncts.upd.edu.ph/tssp/archives/2972
There were 6 sessions with papers on public transportation, active transport, traffic engineering and others including port operations and safety. A total of 27 papers were presented and in attendance were more than 150 people, mostly from the academe. The conference was conducted in cooperation with the University of the Philippines Visayas and the City Government of Iloilo. When available, I will also later share information about the very informative and enlightening keynote lecture delivered in the morning of the conference on the topic of Global Health.
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Foggy roads – Part 2
This is supposed to be a follow-up to the post on foggy roads in Tagaytay last month. Unfortunately, I could other things came in the way of finishing this Part 2. Intersections can be quite dangerous if all approaching one have limited visibility. Add to that the flaws in intersection geometry that may contribute to it being risky to travelers. Following is an example along the Tagaytay-Calamba Road with an intersection with Belleview Drive, which is the main access road to Tagaytay Highlands.
The approach from Tagaytay features a curve. I didn’t notice any streetlights along the road so I can imagine it must be poorly lit at night. What more if there is a thick fog in the area?
The bike lane is a product of the government’s efforts to come up with a bike lane network along national roads during the pandemic. This is actually the shoulder painted to become a bike lane. This is the view of the intersection approach if you’re coming from Tagaytay. The leg to the right with the people with umbrellas is Belleview Drive and towards Tagaytay Highlands. You can easily miss this if you were not familiar with the area and cruising along the highway. Note the thick fog obscuring your vision of the intersection. The curvature to the left also adds to the complex situation.
This is a closer look at the highway approach from Tagaytay taken a few minutes after I took the first photo in the article. Note the fog quickly setting in and the limited visibility. The motorcycle moving away from us would disappear into the fog. This is during the daytime and supposedly in broad daylight. Vehicles would need to turn on their lights so others may see them on the road.
The sign along Belleview Drive states the obvious. There should be more signs like this located strategically along the Tagaytay – Calamba Road and others usually cloaked in the fog we experienced in Tagaytay recently.I assume there would be similar situations elsewhere including in Baguio City. We also experienced fog (not smog) in Antipolo but these were quick to dissipate unlike the ones in Tagaytay and Baguio.
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On the impact of more frequent lightning strikes on airports
We were waiting for our plane to arrive at the airport yesterday and can’t help but observe the heavy rains falling while a strong wind blows and causes the rains to fall at an angle. This renders umbrellas to be ineffective in keeping you dry if you’re outdoors. Such weather requires a long coat or even overalls to keep one dry on a very wet day. The rains and wind were brought about by a storm affecting the area. Though distant, the storm was able to influence the weather. Fortunately, there wasn’t any lightning and we wondered if lightning strikes have affected ground crew working in an open area that makes them vulnerable to lightning strikes. Here is an interesting article that describes the threat of lightning strikes particularly to people on the ground at airports.
King, R.E. (September 11, 2024) “Increasing Lightning Strikes from Stronger Storms Could Cripple Airports and Airbases,” Jalopnik, https://jalopnik.com/increasing-lightning-strikes-from-stronger-storms-could-1851645799 [Last accessed: 9/16/2024]
Quoting from the article:
“While flying planes are hardened to withstand lightning strikes, airports are typically a cluster of free-standing structures on a flat, open plot of land. The ongoing increase in lightning strikes caused by climate change is a direct danger to facilities and people on the ground.”
I wonder about similar data or statistics in the Philippines considering the long wet season we have that includes not just threats from typhoons but from seemingly small weather systems that may involve lightning strikes. I recall operations at NAIA were halted a few times when there were lightning storms. Is this phenomena. I wonder how many incidents at our airports have been reported and recorded pertaining to lightning.
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Back in Iloilo (again) and a note on landmarks
One landmark that I have been familiar with since I was a child is the Jaro Cathedral belfry. The building is located at the plaza across from the church. The area has been neglected for a long time and I am glad to see the city developing the area to become more attractive and useful as a park for the benefit of its citizens and visitors.
The area, I’ve been told, is being developed as part of a program towards coming up with more open spaces like parks particularly where there are already plazas around the city. I have memories of getting a ride back to my father’s hometown whenever we went to the city usually to eat or shop. The informal jeepney terminals used be around the plaza. Other jeepneys rounded the streets for their return trips instead of stopping at a terminal. Now you have to travel to the provincial jeepney terminals at the outskirts of the city to get a ride to the other towns.
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Caught (up) in traffic 