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Another revolution needed along EDSA?
One of the most powerful images of EDSA that sticks to anyone’s mind is one where you see hundreds of thousands of people occupying the sections near what is now a shrine dedicated to the People Power Revolution that led to the ouster of Ferdinand Marcos in 1986. Perhaps a more recent version of this image is another associated with a People Power 2 that ended the term of another Philippine President, Erap Estrada, in 2001. The latter had in the background the newly operational MRT-3 as well as the overpasses at the intersection of EDSA-Ortigas that were built after 1986. These images are now mostly replaced by those depicting EDSA as one huge parking lot for cars during peak periods that seem to stretch beyond the typical morning and afternoon hours. A couple of photos are reproduced below showing day time and night time traffic congestion along the stretch of EDSA from Ortigas to Camp Aguinaldo.
Afternoon congestion along the section of EDSA between Ortigas and Santolan. Note that even the overpasses are full of vehicles. Camp Aguinaldo is the green area on the top right.
Traffic congestion along the same section of EDSA at night. The head and tail lights represent the motor vehicles crawling along the highway.
Already the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has tried so many schemes along EDSA but mostly to regulate bus traffic. These have included various versions of dispatching schemes including a failed foray into the use of RFIDs. The current system that was launched in January is another attempt that we hope to be more successful than the previous ones. Already, the system has been able to weed out drivers with multiple traffic violations. There are many more of these drivers behind the wheels of public transport vehicles who probably shouldn’t be driving such vehicles as they put their passengers at risk of being involved in road crashes. Incidentally, such traffic violations associated with the different private bus companies operating in Metro Manila have been the subject of an interesting discussion during one congressional inquiry on public transport franchises where the MMDA reported hundreds if not thousands of traffic violations attributed to various bus companies.
The MMDA is limited by its mandate in so far as buses are concerned. It is the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), which has the responsibility to address franchise violations and enforce rules in such a way that the agency could influence bus companies to improve their services. However, the MMDA is not at all helpless here as they are in the best position to petition for sanctions against erring bus companies based on their data on traffic violations. Such obviously constitute a violation in the franchise particularly where reckless or irresponsible driving exposes their passengers and the general public to risks in the form of road crashes. Such crashes can translate into losses of lives, injuries or significant damages to property.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has proposed an elevated highway on top of EDSA. This is supposed to have been inspired by similar elevated expressways found in other principal metropolitan areas including those in Tokyo. Would it solve the problem of traffic along EDSA? Probably in the short run after its opening but likely not in the long run as the elevated highway will rapidly become congested much like the experience with C-5. An elevated highway will also require ramps at many of EDSA’s intersections with other major highways and congested on the ground will lead to the condition spreading to the elevated sections.
The planned rehabilitation of EDSA is overdue. However, it has met a lot of opposition and mixed signals from various sectors including the MMDA itself, which is supposed to work with the DPWH in finding a solution for Metro Manila’s busiest thoroughfare. It seems that the MMDA is perhaps more interested in pursuing another elevated highway project, the Skybridge, which would be along a corridor on top of the San Juan River. Curiously, the objective of this other proposal is to have another alternate route to EDSA or simply “to decongest EDSA.” While well meaning, I have the gut feeling it won’t have a tremendous impact as it will still cater mainly to private cars. How about the commuters who comprise 70 to 80 percent of travelers along EDSA but only have about 30 percent of the road? We have to realize that only by keeping people, who do not need to drive, on public transport can we effectively decongest our roads. It is when they start using cars or motorcycles that our road space become all the more limited.
Meanwhile, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), the agency which is supposed to come up with the solutions to our transport problems has not been as active as it should be on the topic of EDSA. To be fair, the agency seems to be working on the acquisition of additional coaches to address the also overdue capacity expansion for the MRT Line 3. However, it also seems that now worries that the line was poorly planned in the sense that it failed to anticipate the present transport demand, has been validated. MRT Line 3 is really a light rail transit line that was built along EDSA despite the need for a higher capacity system. But is it too late to upgrade this system? Or do we need another to supplement or complement the MRT 3?
Perhaps what is needed along EDSA is another revolution but one of the sustainable transport kind. “Sobra na! Tama na! Palitan na!” were cries in 1986 that are now very much applicable to the transport system we have along EDSA. It will not be an easy nor an inexpensive task to upgrade the MRT-3 into a higher capacity system required along this corridor. But opportunities are now available to ease the burden along the line. The emergence of bus rapid transit (BRT) as a viable option along EDSA would have to be explored. But a BRT cannot be simply installed along the corridor. The government would also have to be firm with the conventional buses plying routes that all seem to be overlapping along EDSA. These routes would have to be simplified along with the numerous companies that would have to be encouraged to form consortia (or cooperatives?) that can participate in a MRT-BRT-bus integrated network. The question now is who will champion or lead such a revolution for transport? Who will be progressive enough to lead us into an era of modern transport that should be inclusive, environment-friendly, and promotes “dignity of travel” for all?
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Antipolo Simbahan
“All roads lead to Antipolo” is a saying that is especially true for devotees to Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage for whom the shrine in Antipolo is dedicated. Indeed, major transport routes lead to Antipolo City and signboards on jeepneys (and buses of old) state “Antipolo Simbahan” as their destination. In much older days, the Manila Railroad Company used to have trains directly serving this route. The remnants of its right-of-way is still there but in the form of roads. These are the Daang Bakal, which stretches from Valley Golf in Cainta, Rizal until its junction with Taktak Road and Ninoy Aquino Blvd., where it becomes the Lorenzo Sumulong Memorial Circle, Antipolo’s circumferential road. A trace of this old railway line may be found in this previous post.
From J.P. Rizal Street, which extends from Sumulong Highway, one turns left to head straight towards the Antipolo church along P. Oliveros Street. The street is a two-lane, one-way road that has been widened at some sections. The shoulders, however, are mostly used for parking as shown in the photo.
The dome of the church becomes visible to the traveler as one comes closer. P. Oliveros St. is closed to traffic during the feast day in May. It is usually open during Lent even during the Holy Week when there are lots of people coming to Antipolo for the Visita Iglesia. Traffic during those times can be quite slow because there are also lots of people walking along the streets, many of whom are devotees who are namamanata, or have promises of sacrifice and prayers to the patron of the shrine.
Similar to other poblacions around the country, commerce surrounds the church. Antipolo receives thousands of visitors daily and its being a natural traffic generator provides opportunities for businesses to thrive around it. Establishments around the church are proof of this and one will find most major fast food chains within a stone’s throw away from the shrine. In the photo are major chains Jollibee, Mang Inasal, Greenwich along the right and Mercury Drug(not fast food but the largest drug store chain in the Philippines) and McDonald’s on the left. There are more including banks and food stalls along M.L. Quezon Street, which is the main street of the poblacion.
M.L. Quezon Street in front of the shrine and the main street of the poblacion, is also a two-lane, one-way street (southbound flow). There are many one-way streets here as it is no longer possible to widen streets. One side of M.L. Quezon is used for parking and a short walk from the church is Antipolo City Hall, which is the red building barely visible (obscured by the tree on the left) downstream in the photo.
The Antipolo City Hall building is seen here at the left in this photo.
There is a proliferation of tricycles operating in the poblacion. I don’t know how many there are but they seem to be from different tricycle operators and drivers associations (TODA) that all converge at the shrine. This overlap of service areas (tricycles do not have fixed routes) suggest everyone is taking advantage of the shrine and city hall being major traffic generators. The problem is that the city has not been able to control their numbers and regulation is probably limited to registration, which brings some revenues to the city. This is certainly not sustainable from the perspective of transport
It would be nice to see the poblacion re-planned, designed and managed so that walking may be given primacy over other modes, particularly motorized ones. Antipolo should be walkable and it was in the past considering there were no tricycles and automobiles during the Spanish and early American periods. One took an animal-drawn vehicle, road a horse, or walked even when there was a train service in the early part of the last century. If parking is an issue, then perhaps the city, with the cooperation of the private sector, could find ways of building multi-storey parking facilities in the periphery and within comfortable walking distance from the shrine and city hall. There’s much potential here that is steadily being wasted due to traffic and with no design theme even for buildings surrounding the shrine. The shrine represents heritage and to preserve and enhance it, Antipolo City should find ways to introduce sustainable transport as well as applying architectural principles for the poblacion.
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Link: Measuring Transport Efficiency
I’m sharing a recent article from Todd Litman of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute. The article is entitled Measuring Transport System Efficiency that appears in the Planetizen online journal. It’s a very good read for all, even those without planning or engineering backgrounds, who want to have an understanding of how to evaluate or assess transport systems according to the various aspects of a system (e.g., there’s a difference between conventional road planning and accessibility-based transport planning). Todd is as usual very good in discussing these topics given his experience and expertise, and is able to present it in a manner that is easily understood by any reader (well, except maybe the trolls we find anywhere online these days).
Happy reading!
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Sound bites on transport and traffic
If there was one thing I both dreaded and enjoyed during my 6-year stint as head of UP’s National Center for Transportation Studies, it is granting interviews to the media. My predecessors warned me about how some media outfits have been notorious for editing interviews to suit their needs. In certain cases, they are alleged to have spliced recordings that if taken as is would have been boring or not quite informative in order to have material that were more sensational. There are features, for example, where it seems interviewees were responding to the each other’s opinions making it look like they were arguing. And then there are those where certain statements are taken out of context when cut from a long explanation in the actual interview that took place.
I think I tried my best to be careful about what I said and how I explained or related things in my interviews. I looked at interviews as a way the Center could reach out and advance its advocacies. These were opportunities to spread the message of sustainable transport, to educate and inform officials and the public about what we should aspire and work hard towards achieving in transport and traffic. I think we had to be both progressive and aggressive with our messages because it was our duty, our responsibility not just to do research and train people but also to inform and educate people about sustainable transport. Popular mass media is an effective way to do this and we should be engaging but careful about our messages in order to be constructive and fair.
The last news interview I had before finally being relieved of being holdover Director for a month after my term ended was with GMA News. I like this interview about traffic congestion because I was able to put in some of the ideas that people in the forefront of sustainable transport have been preaching and practicing. These include the truth that in developed countries and cities, the wealthy take public transportation and that in order to improve public transportation, decision makers should themselves experience commuting.
These are not new ideas and I have to be clear that these were not my original ideas but those that I have come to embrace and advocate. I truly believe that if we don’t take public transportation, walk or cycle, we can’t really have a clear picture of what our cities need in order to solve the traffic mess and come up with services that are safe, efficient, inclusive and equitable.
The feature appearing on Jessica Soho’s State of the Nation on Channel 11 from the GMA News website.
The same report that appeared in the primetime 24 Oras:
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Completed Quezon Avenue-Araneta Avenue underpass
The underpass along Quezon Avenue at its intersection with Araneta Avenue was finally completed and opened to traffic last September 28, 2012. It is perhaps one of the most anticipated inaugurations of infrastructure for Metro Manila and not an anti-climactic one like what was hyped as the completion of the loop formed by MRT3 and LRT1 a few years ago. That didn’t turn out well as we now know there is no loop at all with real connection of the two rail lines. But that, as they say, is another story worth another post or two.
Based on reports from different people including our office’s drivers and some colleagues, traffic has significantly improved in the area. The only joke going around is if the underpass will not be a catchment for floodwaters should there be strong rains considering that it was flooded during construction due to its proximity to the San Juan River and the perennially flooded areas of Talayan and Espana. There are, of course, pumps that have already been installed for the underpass to reduce if not eliminate the possibility of flooding. Following are a few photos taken one Saturday mid-morning when I passed along the area.
A view of the approach to the underpass from Banawe. The pedestrian overpass is across Sto. Domingo Church.
The section has 4 lanes with opposing traffic physically separated by a median island. The fence is likely to prevent jaywalking as well as maybe dissipate glare from headlights during night time.
Potted plants have been placed along the median and though perhaps more are needed, I am glad there are no concrete balls that look like goat poop used to “decorate” the underpass. Columns and girders support the underpass walls at near the junction with Araneta Ave.
Approaching the section directly under Araneta Avenue, the first impression is that it is quite dark though motorists can see the end of the underpass. Pumps have been installed to drain water from this lowest parts of the underpass and prevent it (or reduced) from being flooded during times of strong rains.
The end of the tunnel is practically a mirror image of the other. There are few potted plants as shown and perhaps more are needed to soften the look of the underpass as well as to reduce headlight glares.
Back at-grade – emerging from the underpass, motorists will eventually merge with the traffic along the wide sections of Quezon Avenue. On the opposite direction, I noticed some congestion for vehicle emerging from the underpass as there is a U-turn slot a few meters from the ramp at the Banawe area.
There are traffic signals to manage flows at the at-grade junction of Quezon Ave. and Araneta Ave. It is expected that by reducing the volume of through traffic along Quezon Ave., the signals would be able to handle the remaining traffic and that the intersection will not be as congested as the case prior to the construction of the underpass. Of course, I would also like to see for myself how traffic is in the area during the regular weekdays, particularly on the typically busy days of Monday and Friday.
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Loss of productivity due to congestion and inefficient public transport
I recently read two articles appearing in a major Philippine daily and a popular online site. The first one is an article that appeared in the Philippine Daily Inquirer – “PH economy losing $3.27B in human productivity due to traffic mess” – last September 25, 2012. The other article was posted on Rappler – “Traffic and infrastructure delays cost the Philippines” – last September 27, 2012. These were articles written after the authors’ attendance of what was an Energy and Infrastructure Forum last Sept. 25 where a transport official mentioned a recent study in his talk that estimates productivity losses of about 3.27B USD per year from Metro Manila traffic alone.
Traffic congestion along Commonwealth Avenue
Unusual traffic management scheme along Ortigas Avenue
The study from the National Center for Transportation Studies that was mentioned in both articles was actually first featured in a Yahoo! Philippines article – “Traffic congestion costs Metro Manila P137B per year” – that appeared a month earlier in Aug. 28, 2012. The study being referred to is actually a paper presented by Dr. Jose Regin F. Regidor in his Professorial Chair lecture at the University of the Philippines Diliman’s College of Engineering Colloquium in early August 2012. A copy of the paper may be found below:
Prof Chair 2012 JRFR 02July2012
The main reference for this paper is the study on congestion costs that was produced by the National Center for Transportation Studies back in 2000. Credits go to the core team of Dr. Ricardo Sigua (Institute of Civil Engineering of UP Diliman), Dr. Noriel Tiglao (now with the National College of Public Administration and Governance) and Dr. Val Teodoro (now in the US) for the study. The
Economic Impacts of Traffic Congestion in Metro Manila – Cover+Chap 1 and 2
Economic Impacts of Traffic Congestion in Metro Manila – Chap 3
Economic Impacts of Traffic Congestion in Metro Manila – Chap 4 and 5
Economic Impacts of Traffic Congestion in Metro Manila – Appendix
A much needed update may be possible in the next two years once the traffic model for Metro Manila is updated and calibrated using new data from Household Informations Surveys (HIS) and other transport and traffic surveys under the current MUCEP study that is supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Hopefully, such a model can be updated and calibrated more often in order to assess losses due to congestion and our continuing inability to provide the necessary infrastructure to alleviate the situation. While the paper and the study mentioned above focus on productivity losses, it should be emphasized that there are other costs that should be highlighted including those related to health (respiratory diseases and road crash fatalities and injuries), energy (fuel consumption and inefficiencies), and emissions (carbon and other GHG).
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Quezon Ave. underpass at Araneta Ave.: some expectations and issues
The underpass along Quezon Ave. at its junction with Araneta Ave. is set to open to general traffic this coming week. I got this from a reliable source who was involved in the project as well as friends from the DPWH and the MMDA. If the opening pushes through, the underpass is expected, based on analysis, to ease traffic along both major roads with Quezon Avenue’s through traffic having the most benefit from the uninterrupted flow provided by the underpass. At-grade traffic management at the intersection will still be provided mainly by traffic signals but the substantial reduction of traffic attributed to the through movements along Quezon Ave. The reduction of congestion comes as a relief to a lot of travelers as well as businesses affected by the construction of the underpass in the last year. Fortunately, there has been little delay in the construction and so it seems that lost times due to construction-related congestion (translated here as sacrifices for those who had to endure daily traffic congestion and had to adapt to the situation) will finally be compensated for. Many, indeed, have been anticipating the eventual opening of the underpass, expecting the facility to solve congestion in the area.
The area has been subject to flooding considering its proximity to the San Juan River. Official data for flood occurrences in the area can be accessed through the Department of Science and Technnology’s (DOST’s) Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards website where it is clear that flooding will be an enduring problem for the underpass and surrounding areas. Recent reports (from last week until today) indicate that there is still the specter of flooding that will have to be addressed given that prior to the construction of the overpass, this issue had already been flagged by various stakeholders including the Quezon City Government. It is for this reason that the underpass will have pumps to ensure that water will not accumulate and lead to the closure of the facility in times of heavy rains resulting in flash or regular flooding.
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Predictability of school-generated traffic congestion
I have written about schools generating much traffic. The same characteristics of trip generation make congestion along streets affected by the schools quite predictable. For example, traffic congestion due primarily to the trip generation characteristics of schools along Katipunan Ave. may be observed during 6:30 – 7:30 AM as well as around 3:30 – 4:30 PM. The afternoon congestion though is exacerbated by the presence of significant truck traffic using C5 as part of their routes. Other cases would have similar predictability and I pointed this out to some guests while we were having a coffee break from our day-long meetings. The following photos were taken in the mid-afternoon and shows congestion along Ortigas Avenue in Mandaluyong City, including along an overpass affected by school traffic generation from a private school (the school is the one with the dome in the photo). Traffic is typically bad between 3:20 to 4:30 PM, after which it subsides until after 5:30 when the afternoon to evening rush from workplaces to homes take over much of the road space.
View of the EDSA-Ortigas intersection showing the start of the build-up of traffic along the left turn overpass to Greenhills on the left side of the photo.
View of the same flyover at around 3:36 PM. Note the long queue along both lanes of the overpass.
View of traffic congestion from the 16F of the building hosting the headquarters of the Department of Transportation and Communications. The overpass featured in the preceding photos is shown with vehicles descending to merge with Ortigas Avenue traffic. Both directions of Ortigas Ave. are congested.
Congestion as seen from the street level. Vehicles descending the overpass are generally bound for San Juan while those on the foreground are bound for the EDSA-Ortigas intersection. Long queues are likely caused by a combination of high traffic volumes and non-optimal green time management at the intersection.
Another view of the congestion at both ground and overpass levels. Traffic is really bad when you have ambulant vendors walking along the overpass to sell their wares (e.g., cigarettes, candies, water, etc.) like what the man on the overpass near the van is doing.
Given the predictability of traffic congestion along this road, many motorists who have a choice or alternate route they can take avoid this road during such periods. Unfortunately, those taking public transport cannot avoid the congestion with passengers thereby incurring delays equivalent to wasted time. Most trips generated by such schools take private vehicles often having low occupancies (e.g., a driver plus a student = 2 passengers per vehicle). Perhaps schools should offer better school services/buses for their students? Or maybe there is a public transport option to be explored here? One thing is for sure and that is people at a young age learn that having cars is better than commuting. Such thinking is eventually carried over to when the same children become adults and an orientation favoring cars over public transport or even walking or cycling that they will eventually pass on to their own children, and so on. Perhaps our schools are in a very good position to influence the developing minds of their students and be responsible in promoting sustainable transport to their students.
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EDSA traffic: view from the top
Traffic along Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue (EDSA) or Circumferential Road 4 is quite infamous considering it being a if not the main artery of Metro Manila and carrying much vehicular and passenger traffic between cities like Pasay City, Makati City, Mandaluyong City, Pasig City, Quezon City and Caloocan City where it has major junctions with other major thoroughfares like Roxas Boulevard, South Superhighway, Ayala Ave., Gil Puyat (Buendia) Ave., Shaw Blvd., Ortigas Ave., Aurora Blvd., East and Timog Avenues, Quezon Ave., North Ave., Roosevelt Ave., NLEX and A. Bonifacio Ave., Rizal Ave. and MacArthur Highway.
Shown in the following photos are traffic conditions along EDSA during a holiday, and typical afternoon peak and evening on a weekday. The section featured is the stretch from the Ortigas junction to Camp Aguinaldo. Visible in the photos are the high-rise condominiums along Connecticut Street (upper left) and the developments at the Araneta Center including the Araneta Coliseum in the Cubao commercial district. The green area on the upper right is Camp Aguinaldo, headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), while the rooftops at the right are of houses located in an high-end exclusive subdivision (Corinthian Gardens). In the middle of EDSA is the MRT-3’s elevated tracks.
Photo taken from the 35F of the Robinsons-Equitable Tower shows light traffic along EDSA during a holiday. Traffic probably is similar during Sundays while such volumes may be observed on Saturdays only in the early mornings; before 9:00 or 10:00 AM when the shopping malls open.
Photo taken at 5:44 pm showing traffic congestion on both directions (northbound and southbound) of EDSA including the overpasses at its intersection with Ortigas Ave. An MRT-3 train is visible in the middle of the photo.
Photo taken at 6:16 pm with the headlights and taillights indicative of the traffic density during the early evening. Such congestion now usually extends past 8:00 pm with cases where EDSA is still congested near midnight. Such cases are more common now rather than exceptional.
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Professorial Chair 2012 presentations on Transportation
The Transportation Engineering Group of the Institute of Civil Engineering of the University of the Philippines Diliman held a special session for its Professorial Chair Lectures last August 10, 2012 at the Toyota Training Room of the National Center for Transportation Studies. Four lectures were delivered by ICE faculty members who are also Research and Extension Fellows at the NCTS. Following are a few photos taken during the colloquium.
Dr. Sean Palmiano presenting on the Investigation of Road Crash Causal Factors in Metro Manila (DMCI Developers Professorial Chair)
Dr. Karl Vergel presenting on the Design of Traffic Signal Timing and Traffic Impacts of the Re-Introduction of Traffic Signal Control at the Intersection of the University Avenue and Commonwealth Avenue (Maynilad Professorial Chair)
Dr. Ric Sigua presenting on Microscopic Simulation: A Tool for Evaluation of Traffic Schemes (Prof. Emeritus Norbert S. Vila Professorial Chair)
Dr. Regin Regidor presenting on Revisiting the Costs of Traffic Congestion in Metro Manila and their Implications (Pozzolanic Philippines, Inc. Professorial Chair)
Audience consisting of various participants including those from the DPWH, DOTC and MMDA who were invited for the colloquium.
Graduate students and technical staff from the College of Engineering and the National Center for Transportation Studies also attended the lectures. Unfortunately, classes were suspended that week due to the monsoon rains that resulted in widespread flooding in Metro Manila so undergraduate students were not able to attend the colloquium.
The presentation files may be found in a previous post where links for downloading are provided. These may also be found in the NCTS website.
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Caught (up) in traffic 