‘Highway robbery’ on MCX

THE LIES never end at the Department of Public Works and Highways, President Aquino’s favorite national government agency. The latest prevarication: the alleged benefit the public is going to derive from the P2-billion, 4-kilometer Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway (MCX).

This latest lie was proclaimed in the news report headlined “New 4-km Munti-Cavite road to cut trip by 45 minutes” (Metro, 7/22/15). How in heaven’s name can a 4-km new road cut travel time by 45 minutes?

The claim means that commuters will now be spared a minimum of 30 minutes to a maximum of 60 minutes of traffic—the average of which is 45 minutes. But how can that happen when the travel time on the present route from Alabang to Daang Hari in Las Piñas only takes an average of 30 minutes (20-40 minutes)?

It simply defies physics: How travel time can be reduced by “an average of 45 minutes” on a new route when the travel time on the present one runs only for an average of 30 minutes. Even in a worst-case scenario, say the present route takes 45 minutes to cover, how can the new 4-km road cut the trip shorter by an “average of 45 minutes”? Unless of course, you do science-fiction time travel sans any motor vehicle!

Then the DPWH and its Secretary Rogelio Singson could be the first Filipino organization and individual to win the prestigious Nobel Prize for an astonishing achievement in physics!

The difference in length between the MCX, also known as the SLEx Daang Hari Link Road, and the present route is only about 2-3 km. So how in Einstein’s name can 2-3 km of new road cut travel time by an “average of 45 minutes”?

From the Filinvest tollbooth in Alabang to the MCX exit in Daang Hari (passing Filinvest Avenue and Commerce Avenue), the distance is only 9-10 km. From the same point in Alabang (passing SLEx) to the MCX exit in Daang Hari, the distance is only 6-7 km. So how can a difference of 2,000 to 3,000 meters lead to a savings of three-fourths of an hour?

The true estimated savings in travel time with the use of the MCX would only be about 20 minutes. It takes an average of 30 minutes to commute the present route from Alabang—via Filinvest Avenue and Commerce Avenue—to Daang Hari. The estimated travel time using the new MCX is 10 minutes. So the “average of 45 minutes” cut in road trip given by the delusional DPWH is more than 100 percent!

Lastly, the project cost of the MCX is P2 billion when it should only be P1 billion or less if President Aquino and Secretary Singson did not stop the Link Road (now MCX) project of former president Gloria Arroyo, which was started in August 2009. The reason MCX is expensive is it is now a public-private partnership project.

The Toll Regulatory Board approved a toll of P17 for using the 4-km “expressway” at P4.25 per km. This is exorbitant, if not obscene! SCTEx is only charging P2.50 per km, while TPLEx is charging P3.50 per km. Thus, the toll for the 4-km MCX should only be between P10 at P2.50 per km and P14 at P3.50 per km. The P17-toll for MCX is highway robbery!

—RICARDO B. RAMOS, executive director, InfraWatch, pshfi.infrawatch@gmail.com