Home » Public Transport (Page 5)
Category Archives: Public Transport
Article share: On improving the Philippines’ transport system
I share this article on the desire for a sustainable transportation system for the country. This was written by a former Assistant Secretary of the Department of Transportation (on secondment) who has returned to teach at the School of Urban and Regional Planning of the University of the Philippines Diliman. Here is the article published by the Philippine Daily Inquirer:
To quote from the article:
“The present condition of the Philippine public transport system is indispensable to the desired transition from more sustainable, in this case, electric forms of transportation—to a better public transportation system. A good public transportation system is defined by reliability, accessibility, safety, and security…
The imperative to consolidate is clear and crucial. It is not just a technical necessity, but a pathway to inclusive growth where all stakeholders benefit from the transition, and where we can truly create an inclusive and sustainable system for public transportation.
Improving public transportation, by making it cleaner, safer, and more accessible, will directly enhance the quality of lives of Filipinos.”
–
Planning for True Transportation Affordability: Beyond Common Misconceptions
How much do we spend on transportation as part of our budgets? Is it 5% of your monthly budget? Is it 10%? Or is it eating up a substantial part of what you’re earning?
Source: Planning for True Transportation Affordability: Beyond Common Misconceptions
To quote from the article:
“This research indicates that many common policies favor expensive transportation and housing over lower-cost alternatives, which drives the cost of living beyond what is affordable, leaving too little money to purchase other necessities. The result is immiseration: growing stress, unhappiness, and discontent.
The solution is simple: planning should favor affordable over expensive modes and compact development over sprawl. This is not to suggest that automobile travel is bad and should be eliminated. Many people are justifiably proud of being able to afford a nice car, and automobiles are the most efficient option for some trips. However, automobile travel requires far more resources and is far more expensive than other modes, typically by an order of magnitude, so true affordability requires an efficient, multimodal transportation system that allows travelers to choose the options that truly reflect their needs and preferences.
Affordability requires a new economic paradigm; rather than trying to increase incomes or subsidies we need to increase affordability and efficiency so households can satisfy their basic needs consuming fewer resources and spending less money. Our planning should be guided by a new goal: how can we help families be poor but happy.”
I share this article because it provides a more complete narrative and assessment than those just focusing on transport. Home choice locations and affordable housing are part of the equation. Looking at transport alone can be myopic and leads us to think it is the only problem to solve.
–
Neutrality for public utility vehicles
I had written recently about how politicians are now using public utility vehicles for their premature campaigns. Promoting themselves illegally and ahead of the official campaign period. Today, I saw many modern jeepneys bearing posters of various politicians and party lists. Many of these PUVs are either private companies or cooperatives (i.e., in the case of modern jeepneys). I will not post their photos here as I don’t want to be inadvertently promoting these people and party lists. Instead here is an example of public transportation that does not promote any particular person or personality but instead speaks for a program that’s contributing to improve the commutes of people:
Quezon City’s buses don’t have any campaign materials posted on them.
Quezon City’s Bus Service Program is a good example of how a local government unit that has resources and the capability can help provide public transportation services to its constituents. It is a good example of what LGUs can do if they have the will, the capability, the capacity and the guidance for such initiatives. Of course, they should have good leaders who will support these endeavors and who do not have to put their faces and names on these programs.
–
On the general benefits of public transportation
Here’s another good read that has links to the outcomes of studies pertaining to public transportation’s direct and indirect effects on vehicle miles traveled or VMT (in our case we use vehicle kilometers traveled or VKT):
McCahill, C. (November 12, 2024) “The benefits of transit extend well beyond transit riders,” State Smart Transportation Initiative, https://ssti.us/2024/11/12/the-benefits-of-transit-extend-well-beyond-transit-riders/ [Last accessed: 11/20/2024]
To quote from the article:
“…good transit has a ripple effect on land use and travel behavior. For every mile not driven by transit riders, transit accounts for another six to nine miles not driven among the larger population. “
Note the potential reduction in VKT’s attributed to mass transportation or transit.
–
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.
–
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.
–
On ride hailing replacing more sustainable options for transport
We’ve long suspected that ride hailing or ride sharing is not as sustainable as their proponents and companies would project them to be. Here is more evidence showing how ride hailing has diminished other more sustainable transport options.
Kerlin, K. (August 28, 2024) “Half of Uber, Lyft Trips Replace More Sustainable Options,” UC Davis News, https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/half-uber-lyft-trips-replace-more-sustainable-options [Last accessed: 9/8/2024]
Quoting from the article:
“About 47% of the trips replaced a public transit, carpool, walking or cycling trip. An additional 5.8% of trips represented “induced travel,” meaning the person would not have made the trip were an Uber or Lyft unavailable. This suggests ride-hailing often tends to replace most sustainable transportation modes and leads to additional vehicle miles traveled. “
The article and the study by UC Davis is limited to their experiences with Uber and Lyft and perhaps others that employ cars. In our case, we have in addition motorcycle taxis or habal-habal that further takes away passengers from public and active transportation. Motorcycle taxis provide a very attractive alternative to conventional public transport modes as these are perceived to reduce travel times among other advantages they provide to users.
I will share some information later about the current mode shares in Metro Manila and how drastically public transport mode shares have been eroded post pandemic.
–
Technical sessions at the TSSP 2024 Conference
I am sharing here the latest draft of the technical sessions for the 30th Annual Conference of the Transportation Science Society of the Philippines (TSSP). The conference will be held in Iloilo City this coming September 13, 2024.
I will share the draft program for the morning plenary session in the next post.
–
Initial thoughts on driverless cars
The wife is currently in San Francisco in the US. She sent me some photos and videos of the driverless car ahead of booked to get to their office there.
The first thing that came to mind seeing the photos and videos is “It’s cool!” Their creation and operation are indeed wonders from an engineering and technology standpoint. Unfortunately, these are not the solution to our transport problems. These will just replace the cars we already have and causing congestion and other concerns.
–
On transportation and floods
Some people say transport and traffic concerns take a backseat to floods and related concerns, which affect other aspects of our lives aside from our commutes. The heavy rains the past days have rendered many streets impassable to most types of vehicles. That means people cannot go to work, school or come home. Lives are disrupted by floods this way. But even more disruptive and disastrous are the damages brought about by flooding in many communities. Homes are submerged. Properties are damaged, many beyond repair or replacement. There is also the psychological aspect of floods especially for those who will experience them for the first time. These will surely add to the already fragile mental health of people still reeling from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As I write, the Marikina River has breached and many areas of Metro Manila and surrounding provinces of Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna and Cavite are flooded. The floods are now being mentioned along with those brought about by Ondoy (Ketsana) in 2009.
Here are some photos from the internet being shared by various social media accounts including the official pages of Rappler and Inquirer:
–
Caught (up) in traffic 