The Writer's Corner

Coding crisis

Odelinne Jan Lina

A regular weekday drive going to Quezon City from Makati will take you an hour and a half to an almost two hour drive in EDSA. If you are unlucky enough to not know the alternate routes provided by navigation applications like Waze, then you are in a big trouble.

The recent implementation of the new traffic regulations last Nov. 2 sparked negative reactions from private vehicle owners. There is still no improvement with the transportation system and the flow of traffic in major roads in Metro Manila. Instead of avoiding the dreadful commute in buses, the LRT and MRT, they still have to adhere to the new 7 am to 8 pm Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program (UVVRP).

UVVRP, commonly known as the color-coding scheme, prohibits cars whose license plates ending with certain numbers to go out on major roads and highways on a certain day. The revised UVVRP removed the privilege of car owners from the so-called window hours which allows private cars to travel from 10 am to 3 pm depending on the ordinances of the local city government.

More Filipinos who belong to the middle class and beyond are now thinking of buying additional cars to avoid the color-coding scheme. With the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) Program of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Filipino dream of having their own car will come true, but it certainly has a negative effect on the traffic congestion in Metro Manila.

The CARS program intends to promote the automotive industry in the country. According to DTI, the program aims to attract more car investments in the manufacturing of motor vehicles and parts.

Using the law of supply and demand in Economics, the greater the supply of goods, the

percent of air pollution in the country.

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Arthur Tugade has been pushing for the implementation of the emergency powers of the President to resolve traffic.

Under House Bill No. 3 or the Traffic Crisis Act, the president will be granted emergency powers to recognize or abolish DOTr, LTO and other transportation agencies in the countries. The president will also gain control with the bidding of the infrastructures which is a downside to the democratic process of bidding.

The other proposed solutions of DOTr for the traffic congestion is very much ideal.

They plan to buy 30 to 50 more train carriages for LRT and MRT trains, put up a new train line along Pasig river, map secondary routes, intensify the anti-colorum campaign, and borrow P60 billion from another country or an international agency to fund infrastructure projects. Unfortunately, all of these will be impossible if there will be a lack of action from the government.

There really is a need for the government to hand over the emergency powers to the President to have an immediate change in the current state of traffic in Metro Manila. It is better to centralize the power of the local government and let the national government increase involvement in this traffic crisis. If the people will only rely on the ordinances of the respective local city governments, rules and regulations will be different from city to city.

The only challenge here is if ever the emergency power for the President will be granted, the public should keep an eye on the allocation of funds and the companies involved in the biddings to ensure that no corruption issues will arise.

cheaper the prices are. Filipinos are more attracted to buying their own cars because of cheaper car prices and also because of the faulty transport system.

It is no longer new for commuters that train failures occur frequently especially with MRT. In a day, there could be at least four train failures that could happen which is the usual cause of tardiness of Filipinos.

Providing a short-term solution to resolve traffic is not the right answer. It will only urge people to buy more cars and in the end, it will only add to the traffic congestion in major roads and highways.

As of 2013, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) listed a total of 2,101,148 motor vehicles in NCR. In 2015, the number of registered cars has already reached 2.5 million. In the 1,032 kilometer of roads in Metro Manila, there is an estimate of 424 vehicles per kilometer.

Inside private cars, buses and trains are people living in Metro Manila. As of 2015, the total population in Metro Manila have reached 12.8 million making Metro Manila the sixteenth populated city out of the 17 populated cities in the world.

According to the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), traffic costs the economy P2.4 to P3 billion daily which is 0.8 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product. Worse, it is expected to reach P6 billion of loss daily by 2030.

Aside from the congestion of cars, densely populated Metro, and traffic’s impact on the country’s economy, vehicles contribute to the 85