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Category Archives: Road Safety
Landslide in Antipolo
What’s been causing some traffic congestion along Ortigas Ave. Extension is the collapse of a side of the mountain at a section just before the Antipolo City arch (if you’re coming from Tikling Junction). The soil probably was already saturated after the past few days heavy rain and it didn’t help that the old wall holding the soil and consisting mainly of blocks was also already weakened (I am assuming that it was built following standards for such walls.).
The area had been partially cleared of soil and rock, which initially blocked 2 lanes of the 4-lane road. Kudos to the DPWH for their work clearing part of the debris and easing traffic along this busy thoroughfare.
The wall at this section was completely obliterated revealing soil that appeared to be already unstable.
Hopefully, funds can be allocated very quickly in order to build the necessary slope protection. Perhaps the barrier should be designed to allow for more water to seep through without compromising the structure. Such weep holes are necessary especially given the saturated soils due to heavy rainfall experienced during this wet season and others in the future.
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Motorcycle lanes along Sumulong Highway?
I noticed something along my commute and that is the newly marked pavement along Sumulong Highway at the section in Barangay Mambugan until Barangay Mayamot at Masinag Junction. I guess this is more likely part of Antipolo City’s initiative in managing motorcycle and tricycle traffic. In a meeting with the City Administrator, Robert Nacianceno, last year, he said that the city was moving towards improving road safety. That included addressing concerns about tricycle and motorcycle operations that has led to crashes and congestion. Motorcycle lanes designated by blue pavement markings are not new and likely was inspired by the MMDA’s initiatives along major roads in Metro Manila.
Motorcycle running along the designated lane
The blue markings are present along both sides of Sumulong Highway
The real challenge with these motorcycle lanes would be on the enforcement. That is, how would the city be ‘encouraging’ motorcyclists and tricycle drivers to stick to the outer lanes of the highway. Such would require a tremendous effort for the city as they will definitely have to apprehend erring motorists and also clear the designated lanes of obstructions. Should this program be successful along Sumulong Highway, perhaps they should consider the same for Marcos Highway.
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Roads to Baguio: Marcos Highway – Part 2
To open September, I continue on the feature on Marcos Highway. Following are more photos I took on our way back to Manila from a short vacation in Baguio.
Many sections of Marcos Highway have some form of protection against landslides or rock slides. Note the concrete faces fences along the left in the photo.
There are many structures along the highway including houses and stores
The mountain limits sight distance along curves like this.
We encountered this group of motorcyclists heading up to Baguio on what appeared to be what is termed as “big bikes”, that typically are the more expensive ones, too. Other photos in this series will show these motorcycles. I lost count of them while we were traveling the opposite direction.
This seems to be a popular stop for hungry travelers. The location though and its driveway are not at all desirable from the highway engineering perspective.
Combination of signs to guide motorists along this sharp curve.
Curved sections like this one offer breathtaking views of the mountains.
Shoulders may function as space for emergency stops including for breakdowns or changing tires. Full shoulders allow for stopped vehicles to be completely clear of the traveled way. That is, they don’t pose as obstacles that traffic would need to evade.
More examples of poorly located establishments along a curve
The road seems to disappear in the mountains
Another home along the highway and right at one of the curves. This one seems to be wisely located behind the barriers though its pretty obvious where their driveway is located.
Conspicuous location for a religious site along the highway
More motorcyclists and their big bikes
Barriers along both side of the highway seem sturdy enough to keep vehicles from flying off the road in case their drivers/riders lose control. This section offers enough to satisfy sight distance requirements and noticeably does not feature double yellows like the other photos in this post.
A residential community along the highway including this big house just clear of the shoulder.
Another community including a home atop the mountain. The barriers appear to be newly constructed along with the PCC paved shoulders. These would have to be painted for them to be visible to motorists especially at night-time or when visibility is poor.
More photos of Marcos Highway soon!
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TSSP 23rd Annual Conference Proceedings
The 23rd Annual Conference of the Transportation Science Society of the Philippines (TSSP) was held at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman last August 8, 2016. It was hosted by the National Center for Transportation Studies (NCTS), which for some time was practically inactive in its dealings with the society. The conference was a very successful one with more than 170 participants, mostly students from the undergraduate programs of Mapua Institute of Technology (MIT), De La Salle University (DLSU) and UP Diliman.
The Proceedings of the 23rd Annual Conference contains 22 technical papers, which I have already listed in a previous post showing the technical program for the conference. The link is to the current website of the TSSP hosted by NCTS. Those wishing to have copies of the papers may download them directly from the link. Meanwhile, those interested in the presentations should contact the authors. Their contact information are stated in the paper and it is ethical to get the nod of the authors for their presentation file as these still fall under what can be defined as their intellectual property. I am aware of people who tend to get presentation slides and then pass them of as their work when they use the slides or the data/information therein. There are proper ways for citations of references and sources but sadly such ways are not observed by many.
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TSSP 2016 Conference Program
I am sharing the banner and final program for the Transportation Science Society of the Philippines 23rd Annual Conference to be held on Monday, August 8, 2016. The final program features a Keynote Speech by the Undersecretary for Road Transport and Infrastructure Anneli R. Lontoc, a Panel Discussion on Road Safety, and technical sessions in the afternoon.
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TSSP 2016 Conference: Tentative Program
I am sharing below the tentative program for the 23rd Annual Conference of the Transportation Science Society of the Philippines (TSSP):
Soon, I will post on the list of papers to be presented for the Technical Sessions to be held in the afternoon part of the one-day conference.
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TSSP 2016 Conference – August 8, 2016
I start August with an announcement, promoting the 23rd Annual Conference of the Transportation Science Society of the Philippines (TSSP). The theme of this year’s conference is “What Gets Measured, Gets Managed: Transportation, Data and Statistics.” The conference will have a panel discussion in the morning and parallel technical sessions in the afternoon.
The topic for the panel discussion is “Road Safety Data: Issues, Challenges and Opportunities”. Confirmed are resource persons from the Department of Transportation, the Department of Public Works and Highways, and the Global Road Safety Partnership Philippines. The session will feature presentations and reactions on agency or organization initiatives on road safety with emphasis on road safety data. An open forum will immediately follow for the audience to be able to participate in the discussions.
The afternoon will feature 4 parallel technical sessions where selected papers will be presented. These would be the output of researches from leading universities including the University of the Philippines, De La Salle University and Mapua Institute of Technology. I will post on the paper titles as soon as I get a copy of the program.
The one-day conference will be held at the National Center for Transportation Studies at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City.
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Seemingly minor violations that affect traffic and safety
The following photo shows one of the many minor violations that happen everyday along many roads and particularly at intersections. Motorcyclists and drivers frequently occupy spaces that are supposed to be clear of vehicles. The motorcycles and AUV below occupy the pedestrian crossing that is typically space for pedestrians and cyclists crossing the intersection. Both vehicles also are encroaching upon the intersection’s yellow box, which can be risky given that the intersection is signalised and other vehicles are given the right of movement according to the cycle settings of the intersection.
This and others like it are what seems to be minor incidents but in truth have a combining or cumulative effect on traffic streams that contribute to congestion as well as having implications on road safety. Pedestrians and cyclists are forced to go around the vehicles blocking their paths, likely putting them in harm’s way. Other motorists try to avoid these errant vehicles, which, like in the photo, may be blocking the path of vehicles proceeding towards the intersection leg to the right that is hidden in the picture. Motorists doing this must be apprehended by traffic officers/enforcers as these are clear violations of traffic rules. If one is to promote discipline among road users, then it should start with minor violations that tend to be disregarded by traffic enforcers.
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Monuments to recklessness or carelessness?
Our recent trip to a resort in Batangas required for us to take a local road that was both narrow and winding. The roadside revealed what remained of a bus that was involved in a crash not too long ago. This was a crash where many of the passengers perished. Many of the fatalities were teachers who attended a workshop held in a venue in the area.
Remains of the bus wreck along the local road in Mataas na Kahoy, Batangas
From the looks of the wreck, it is difficult to assume that no one perished here. Passengers seldom wear their seat belts when riding a bus and a crash would mean passengers literally flying around inside the bus. It would have been difficult to avoid serious injury at the least for those who were in the bus.
This is the scene that will greet travellers to Mataas na Kahoy, Batangas. Gruesome but it drives the point regarding road safety. The wreck serves as a strong reminder to drive safely no matter what in order to avoid such incidents.
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Dang Bakal road widening in Antipolo
We go to church at the Parish of the Immaculate Heart of Mary along Daang Bakal in Antipolo City. Quite obvious is the current road widening project being implemented along Daang Bakal. While the improvement of the road was welcome, my opinion is that widening the 2-lane road to 4 lanes was not necessary given the traffic in the area served by the subject section (basically traffic generated by the parish and the exclusive subdivisions along the road). For one the section being widened from the intersection with the Antipolo Circumferential Road leads to a dead-end (i.e,, the gate of an exclusive subdivision). And so, traffic is generally very light along this road section
Are there plans to revive the original right of way of the old railway line but in the form of a road connecting Hinulugang Taktak to Ortigas Avenue via Valley Golf? If not, then the road widening of Daang Bakal is unnecessary. Even if the justification were for cyclists, I would argue that perhaps you only needed to have paved shoulders that need not have the same width as the carriageway lane. Following are photos of Daang Bakal featuring the road widening project.
From the photos, it is clear that a lot of trees have been cut in order to make space for the additional lanes for the road. While most of these trees are too close to the original carriageway, there were many that I felt didn’t need to be cut if a narrow shoulder was deemed sufficient for the road. Traffic in the photos are typical peak period traffic on a Sunday when the road carries the most traffic in a day due mainly to churchgoers.
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Caught (up) in traffic 