Home » Traffic Congestion (Page 3)
Category Archives: Traffic Congestion
Article on the evaluation of congestion pricing
I want to share this article on the congestion pricing zone in London. This is called the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), which also met resistance when it was first implemented.
Selby, O. (January 16, 2025) “ULEZ expansion hasn’t hurt high street spending,” Centre for Cities, https://www.centreforcities.org/blog/ulez-expansion-hasnt-hurt-high-street-spending/ [Last accessed: 2/1/2025]
Quoting from the article:
“The benefits ULEZ has provided to public health have been studied extensively. The data is clear: London has the worst air quality of any UK city and the capital’s emission zone is helping to change this.
So far, card transaction data does not suggest that ULEZ is harming high street spend. This should reassure policy makers in London, who committed to the emission zone a while ago, and strengthen the convictions of policy makers in New York who are now following suit.”
The article is a nice reference not just for evaluation of similar congestion pricing schemes but can also be used for carless streets or zones. I wonder if there are similar work being done for Baguio’s congestion pricing scheme as well as the carless programs in Ortigas Center. Quezon City should also do this for the newly implemented program along Tomas Morato.
–
The journey to PHL’s railway renaissance
Here is a quick share of an article on railway development in the Philippines. It certainly took a while for railway development to get underway with considering rail transit would probably had a major impact on commuting particularly in Metro Manila and highly urbanized cities like Cebu and Davao that require mass transit systems to alleviate congestion.
Source: The journey to PHL’s railway renaissance
The article though doesn’t contain a narrative on the journey but rather only a summary of the rail projects that are currently being implemented as well as those in the pipeline. It would be a nice to have a more historical approach to this so-called journey so we can have an objective look at what happened to our railways from the 1970s when its decline began until the last few years when a so-called renaissance came to be.
–
Davao 8th, Manila 14th worst in Tomtom Traffic Index
I just want to share this news report here:
Source: Davao 8th, Manila 14th worst in Tomtom Traffic Index
I have to admit that I still have to figure out in detail how exactly their data were collected and evaluated. However, knowing and experiencing traffic in these cities, I would like to opine that traffic is still worse in Metro Manila cities compared to Davao and perhaps others across the country.
From 9-to-5 to Anytime: How Telecommuting Changes the Traffic Game
Here’s a quick share of an article on telecommuting:
Source: From 9-to-5 to Anytime: How Telecommuting Changes the Traffic Game
To quote from the article:
“As we look across these 83 cities, it’s clear that remote work has brought relief to some areas while leaving others just as crowded as before. The cities seeing the most benefit from WFH were those with a flexible, remote-friendly workforce and a supportive economic structure. For fast-growing cities, or those with heavy industry or logistics, WFH alone wasn’t enough to solve congestion.
Telecommuting has no doubt reshaped our roadways, but it’s clear that tackling urban congestion will require more than just a remote work policy. As cities continue to grow and evolve, the future of urban mobility will rely on creative solutions, from smarter infrastructure to updated transit options, to keep America’s cities moving in this new, work-from-anywhere world.”
There are lessons to be learned here for us in the Philippines. Telecommuting is not a new thing here especially considering we have many BPOs operating across the country. Indeed, it is not to be considered as the only solution but one of many we can use to reduce congestion and improve commutes in our towns and cities.
–
Are transportation issues election issues in the Philippines?
Are transportation issues in the Philippines? Or are these issues at the local level? Here is an article about how transportation issues were brought to light and were actual topics in the ballot in Los Angele, California in the US:
Tu, M. (November 25, 2024 ) “Bike, Bus and Pedestrian Improvements Won the Vote in L.A. How Did Advocates Pull It Off? “ Next City, https://nextcity.org/urbanist-news/bike-bus-pedestrian-improvements-healthy-streets-los-angeles-ballot?utm_source=Next+City+Newsletter&utm_campaign=532838ef65-DailyNL_2024_11_18_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_fcee5bf7a0-532838ef65-44383929 [Last accessed: 11/26/2024]
The three lessons in the article are:
- Build a coalition – “In the lead-up to the election in March, Streets For All successfully secured endorsements from unions, climate organizations and business groups that saw the vision for safer streets.”
- Safety wins – “We could make climate arguments, we could make equity arguments, but the thing that felt the most bulletproof to us and the most empathetic to the general Angeleno was just road safety,”
- Keep it simple – “…simple messages were the most effective. Vredevoogd fought for one billboard on Vermont Avenue that read “In 2022, more pedestrians died on Vermont Avenue than in the state of Vermont.”
Los Angeles or LA as many people fondly call the city is well known for being car-centric (as opposed to San Francisco to the north, which is more transit-oriented). Perhaps we can learn from this experience though I know there are already groups and coalitions lobbying for better transportation in the Philippines. Are they successful and to what extent are they succeeding? Granted there are different situations and conditions, even modalities, to engage politicians, there are also so-called party list groups claiming to represent the transport sector but none appear to be really standing up for issues like improving public transport or road safety. And so the challenge is still there for people to make transportation issues election issues in the country.
–
Congestion due to flyover construction: Tagaytay-Nasugbu Road – Part 2
I showed photos of the construction of an overpass along the Tagaytay-Nasugbu Highway coming from Tagaytay in the previous post. This time, here are some photos taken along the opposite direction.
–
Congestion due to flyover construction: Tagaytay-Nasugbu Road – Part 1
There is significant traffic congestion along the Tagaytay – Nasugbu Highway due to the construction of an overpass along the highway at its junction with the Tagaytay – Mendez Highway.
Was there a need for a flyover here? Otherwise I would suggest instead a set of good old-fashioned traffic signals and geometric improvements to the intersection.
–
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 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)?
–
Caught (up) in traffic 