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Words of wisdom from the back of a taxicab
I was driving home from work one evening last week and was behind this taxi. As we were practically stopped due to the evening rush traffic jam, I was able to take this photo of a quote from the Bible that was displayed on a board installed behind the cab:
It is a very apt quote especially in these times when corruption is everywhere in the news.
The quote also reminded me of the families of those alleged to have been involved in corrupt practices. All those social media posts by the so-called nepo children of politicians, government officials and contractors bring these relatives in the fray, in the forefront of discussions. Are they innocent or be treated as so (based on the opinions of some people)? Or are they themselves guilty and even complicit of the corruption their parents are involved in? My take is that if the children are of toddler age or younger, then they shouldn’t be involved or shamed. They definitely do not know and not aware of what’s going on. But for the older children who are traveling, shopping and enjoying ill-gotten wealth, that’s a different story, even if they are still below 18 years old. They are aware. They already know of their excesses. Perhaps they have already been indoctrinated by their elders about their status and privilege, and think these are okay. Indeed, entire households can be liable and should suffer the consequences of their actions and excesses.
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Article share: In Defence of Vision Zero — a Traffic Engineer’s Perspective
On weekends, I try to catch up on reading articles that I have deferred indulging on during busy weekdays. One such article that I have repeatedly put off reading is this one on road safety:
Source: In Defence of Vision Zero — a Traffic Engineer’s Perspective
To quote from the article:
“For years, success in transportation was measured in level of service, vehicle throughput, and reduced delay times. But Vision Zero forced the industry to confront a difficult truth. The more we prioritized speed and volume, the more we endangered the most vulnerable users of the road: pedestrians and cyclists, with particular emphasis on children and older adults. Those who sit in decision-making positions must recognize the realities of physics, namely that the human body is frail and vulnerable to a transportation system that prioritizes throughput over safety.”
The article is a really good read and one that I would recommend for my students in Traffic Engineering to read.
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Needed: MMDA Transport Authority similar to Transport for London
I am sharing this article from Business World about the idea (or is it already a proposal) for an MMDA Transport Authority. I seem to recall there were already proposals for something like this but I have to check for references and sources. In the meantime, I am content with sharing the following:
On Nov. 11, 1999, the British Parliament established the Greater London Authority. Prior to that, there was no single entity managing the entirety of London. The governance of the city was fragmented, and responsibilities for planning, transport, and other city-wide matters were divided between local boroughs and national authorities. The Greater London Authority was established […]
Source: Needed: MMDA Transport Authority similar to Transport for London
Sins of omission at DPWH
I’ve been quite busy the past weeks due to various commitments including deadlines. Nevertheless, I have tried to be updated on the current events pertaining to the flood control scandal many government officials are now being linked to. These include the personalities involved, the projects and the amounts that are now the basis for a lot of people being horrified enough to be called into action. Apparently, many people have not been convinced enough of past misdeeds that have been reported; including the ones pertaining to abuses of uses of confidential funds.
I have hesitated to post on my thoughts about the mess at DPWH as I have many friend including past and present students who are with the Department. Some if not all I know to be sensitive to the corruption issues around the flood control projects. The latter apparently blew up in the faces of the officials of the agency and exposed them and their staff to a lot of ridicule (both warranted and not) and even harassment. Recently, I’ve been seeing a lot of posts from people who are supposedly with the DPWH. These posts are obviously apologists for certain officials considering the content of their writing. These are basically attempts to absolve those who claim to be clean among the DPWH staff and officials, and yet they have not done anything to correct these wrongdoings. This is what is called commiting ‘sins of omission’. By not doing anything for whatever reasons including being afraid to be a whistleblower (considering the consequences) means one is enabling or even encouraging the acts of corruption. In essence, they are being complicit by turning their blind eyes to the rotten eggs. This applies anywhere and not just to DPWH employees. And perhaps so many in government agencies are guilty of this.
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Our clear and present problem with DPWH and certain contractors
I was going to write about the new taxi service and TNVS I used recently during this long weekend. Unfortunately, I lost focus and “gana” after reading about the collusion among DPWH officials and certain contractors about flood control projects. Here are my sentiments today that I shared on my social media account:
“Bakit walang pasok bukas? Kasi may nagbabadyang masamang panahon. Baka bumaha? Bakit babaha? Alam na siguro natin ang sagot sa tanong na ito? Damay-damay na yan. Resilience na lang ba ng mga taong nagbabayad ng buwis ang kasagutan? Di ba dapat may managot sa kung bakit patuloy tayong binabaha samantalang bilyones o trilyones ng kaban ng bayan ang ginagastos? Naiisip ba natin na yung pinagpaguran, pinagpapaguran at pagpapaguran natin ay napupunta sa mga nanlalamang? Wala nga siguro silang nararamdaman at napapansin habang nakasakay sa kabilang magagarang sasakyan. Tayo naman, hanggang tiis sa paglusong sa baha at mag ‘abangers’ sa anunsyo ng walang pasok.”
With the recent revelations of these contractors having the propensity to purchase luxury items like expensive vehicles, do we still wonder why these people cannot feel what ordinary people experience during these times of inclement weather? Hindi nga siguro maramdaman ang baha o ang mga lubak sa daan pag naka SUV ka. To be quite direct about this, I would like to personally drag them to experience the floods and maybe submerge their homes for a few days so we’re even. I am probably not alone with my sentiments.
Flood control is probably just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. There are just so many other projects including roads and bridges that also need to be investigated for anomalies. Will the current administration act on this? Or are we just being taken for a ride with all these lip service and grandstanding by politicians and government officials?
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Is it possible to have zero traffic deaths in a year?
Is it possible to have zero traffic deaths in a year? Is it even probable? As it turns out, yes. Here’s an article on what Helsinki did in order to make this a reality:
Andrei, M. (August 1, 2025) “Helsinki went a full year without a traffic death. How did they do it?” ZME Science, https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/helsinki-went-a-full-year-without-a-traffic-death-how-did-they-do-it/ [Last accessed: 8/19/2025]
To quote from the article:
“A lot of factors contributed to this, but speed limits are one of the most important,” said Roni Utriainen, a traffic engineer with the city’s Urban Environment Division.
More than half of Helsinki’s streets have a speed limit of 30 km/h (approximately 20 mph). Half a century ago, the city barely had half of its area with a 50 km/h limit (30 mph). They gradually worked to reduce the speed limit, especially around schools and kindergartens.
Smarter street design also played a key role. Pedestrian and cycling infrastructure was prioritized for upgrades in recent years. More and more people started using public transit or bikes, or just walking. Substantial investments also made public transit more efficient and reliable.“Public transport in Helsinki is excellent, which reduces car use, and with it, the number of serious accidents,” Utriainen noted.
Another key component was bringing the police on board. Helsinki introduced automated traffic cameras and enforcement systems, which also helped bring down reckless driving.”
Examples of congestion pricing as applied in major cities
Here is a quick share of an article on cities that have been successful with congestion pricing:
Zukowski, D. (August 8, 2025) “5 cities with congestion pricing,” Smart Cities Dive, https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/5-cities-with-congestion-pricing/756987/ [Last accessed: 8/15/2025]
Quoting from the article:
“As cities around the world continue to see increased traffic delays, some have implemented congestion pricing programs to ease gridlock. Congestion pricing acts as a market-based mechanism: increasing the cost to drive in certain areas may encourage drivers to take alternate means of transport or travel at different times. Toll revenues can go to improving roadways and public transit or reducing other vehicle-related taxes.”
Indeed congestion pricing has been around and yet few cities have actually implemented congestion pricing schemes and have had success with it. In the Philippines, the discussions are basically on and off or intermittent. I recall there were already mention of congestion pricing in Metro Manila transport studies back in the 1970s but nothing really came out of those. Fast forward to the present and Baguio City in the northern Philippines implemented their version of number coding, which was supposedly a prelude to some form of congestion pricing but apparently is more of a travel demand management (TDM) scheme along the lines of Metro Manila’s UVVRP. Will we have our own proof of concept sometime soon even for a smaller area or district in any Philippine city? That will also be dependent on whether our so-called leaders can engage their constituents in meaningful discussions on the benefits of congestion pricing.
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Quick comments on the NCAP
The No Contact Apprehension Policy (NCAP) is finally being implemented in Metro Manila. The results so far has been dramatic in terms of the number of violations recorded and the images being shared so far about how motorists are behaving. Below is one of those photos being shared on social media to which I added some annotations. I will use this later to comment on the NCAP and how we can use the outcomes to assess the transportation situation and determine what interventions can be done. Some are already obvious from the photo – the lack of public transport options lead to people depending on private motor vehicles like cars and motorcycles for their commutes. MRT7 is yet to be operational and road public transport has not been rationalized.
More on this topic soon!
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Article share: on improving road safety in the midst of automobile dependency and sprawl
I am sharing another very informative article on road safety. While it is written for North American cities, most concepts and principles presented are applicable elsewhere and especially in cities and municipalities that tend to model their development after America. Increasing dependence on private vehicles (not just automobiles but including motorized two and three-wheelers) have resulted in increasing incidence of road crashes and though we have limited space, we tend to develop land as if we can afford sprawl and its consequences. Here is the article:
Litman, T. (April 25, 2025) “End Human Sacrifices to the Demanding Gods of Automobile Dependency and Sprawl,” Planetizen, https://www.planetizen.com/blogs/134838-end-human-sacrifices-demanding-gods-automobile-dependency-and-sprawl?utm_source=Planetizen+Updates&utm_campaign=d3fcb4d16b-newswire_05_05_25&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-6cce27a957-89144212&mc_cid=d3fcb4d16b&mc_eid=9ccfe464b1 [Last accessed: 16/05/2025]
To quote from the article:
“North American transportation agencies currently apply various older strategies, which should not be ignored, but to achieve additional crash reductions they need new strategies, such as those listed in the following table. The older strategies are targeted programs applied after most major transportation and land use planning decisions are made. New strategies include structural reforms involving more multimodal transportation planning, more compact development, transportation demand management incentives and parking policy reforms. This recognizes that all types of planning decisions affect transportation safety, and that many policies can increase safety in addition to other economic, social and environmental benefits.
The new paradigm expands traffic safety strategies to include structural reforms that increase transport system diversity and efficiency. They tend to provide many economic, social and environmental benefits in addition to safety.”
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Let’s act on road safety crisis!
May is Road Safety Month. It’s quite ironic that we started the month with some of the most gruesome crashes including one at SCTEX and another at NAIA. There is indeed a crisis on road safety but many are in denial or perhaps insensitive to the impacts of these crashes. We need to act and only together can we be most effective in reducing the risks for all road users.
So what can one do? How can one contribute to making roads safer? Sharing this poster from the Road Safety Research Laboratory (RSRL) of the National Center for Transportation Studies (NCTS) of the University of the Philippines:
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Caught (up) in traffic 