A superbody to coordinate Metro transportation?

You may be glad to know that traffic jams in Metro Manila may become a thing of the past if the plans of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) become a reality with the cooperation of local government units, said Chairman Francis Tolentino, who was a guest at the Kapihan sa Manila at the Diamond Hotel last Monday. With him was Ronald Llamas, presidential adviser on political affairs, who answered questions about the peace talks with rebel groups, particularly the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Tolentino acknowledged that there are too many buses running half-empty on Edsa and too many jeepneys and tricycles on other roads. These buses are wasting increasingly expensive fuel, polluting the air, congesting traffic and wasting many millions of pesos worth of lost man-hours, but they are not doing the commuters a service because they are running even when almost empty. Tolentino wondered how the bus companies can keep operating when the buses are carrying very few passengers, even during rush hours. They should be losing money, yet many  colorum  buses are operating there. Why?

They can only be overcharging the few passengers that they have, I suggested. Those few passengers are actually paying for all the empty seats.

Maybe, Tolentino replied. Unfortunately, passenger fares are not under the jurisdiction of the MMDA. It is the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) which approves transportation fares.

Commenting that there are too many transportation regulatory bodies in Metro Manila jealous of their jurisdictions, Tolentino said that maybe there should be a superbody to supervise land, rail and water transportation in the metropolitan area, just like the recently created superbody to supervise water impounding and distribution to conserve the diminishing water resources and at the same time save the excess water during the rainy and flood season.

The LTFRB supervises the franchises and fares of public land transportation, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) registers the vehicles and issues driver’s licenses, the Department of Transportation and Communications supervises the elevated rails, the Philippine National Railways (PNR) operates the commuter trains, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) supervise water transportation, the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the MMDA enforce traffic rules on principal streets, and the different local government units of Metro Manila enforce their own rules on secondary roads, as well as issue franchises for tricycles. There is no agency that coordinates all these different bodies regulating transportation.

For example, it would be more economical for the commuters and transportation operators for land, rail and ferry systems to have a unified system so that passengers can transfer from one mode of transportation to another for faster commuting, using only one ticket as is being done in other cities in the world. The metropolitan area has a large coastal area and many inland waterways that can be used for commuting and ease the load on the roads, but there is nobody doing these.

Huge cargo trucks, carrying goods and passengers from North Luzon to South Luzon and vice versa, have to pass through Metro Manila when they don’t need to. These trucks add to the metropolitan traffic. The drivers and operators of these trucks don’t want to pass through downtown Metro but they have no choice. There are only three main arteries going through the metropolis: Rizal Avenue, Edsa and C-5. One or two highways to bypass downtown Metro (one around Laguna Lake, the other to continue to North Bay Boulevard to Bulacan) would tremendously help ease traffic there.

If PNR would hurry up and link the North and South Luzon rail lines, cargo and passengers that now use trucks and buses can use the railroad and lessen the traffic load through downtown Metro.

Meanwhile, a ferry from Manila to Cavite will help ease traffic on the Coastal Road.

And increasing the coaches, trains and trips of the elevated trails, plus more trips and publicity for PNR’s commuter trains, will give commuters more choices of transportation.

Anyway, the plans of the MMDA in the immediate future is to implement the long-delayed idea to have the buses wait at designated terminals and dispatched as needed by the volume of passengers.

Then there are the provincial buses that add to the traffic jams. They were even given their own lanes and bus stops on Edsa by the previous MMDA chairman. They will now be limited to terminals outside city limits and their passengers taken to the inner cities by city buses. Those with terminals inside the metropolis will be allowed to stop and load/unload passengers only in these terminals. They can no longer stop at any point between the terminals and city limits as they are doing now.

As for the buses leaving the designated bus lanes and private vehicles entering these lanes, Tolentino said these two lanes will be elevated to the same level as the bus entry doors so that vehicles can neither leave or enter them. Also, it would be easier for passengers to board the buses.

Presidential adviser Ronald Llamas’ statements on the insurrections will be discussed in a future column.

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KAPIHAN NOTES: There will be no Kapihan sa Manila at the Diamond Hotel next Monday, Aug. 29, 2011, it being an official holiday. The next Kapihan will be on Sept. 5, 2011.

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People are asking when the next show at the Kapihan sa Manila of famous mimic Willie Nepomuceno will be. They will be glad to know that Willie will have a show tonight at the Music Museum.