The mass transport crisis is real.
Millions of commuters in the National Capital Region (NCR) suffer
inconvenient and inefficient travel every day. Average commuting time was around
37 minutes in 1980 and 51 minutes in 1996, according to the Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA). A survey by commuter group Komyut reported this
rising to as much as 3-4 hours today.
Commuting can also be made even more affordable. As it is, the
poorest low- and middle-income earners already suffer the most from the stress,
less rest and recreation time with the family, and lower quality of life from
difficult travel options.
The main reason for the hellish daily commute of millions is the
government orientation of privatized mass transport amid irrational
profit-driven urban planning. This is instead of ensuring mass transport as a
public service.
Mass transport in NCR spans rail, bus, jeepney and tricycles as
well as taxis and the more recent Transportation Network Vehicle Services
(TNVS) such as Grab and Angkas. A section of lower income groups have their own
motorcycles, while higher income folks largely commute by private cars (and
even helicopters).
The government’s approach to mass transport is overwhelmingly to
rely on the private sector. The Light Rail Transit (LRT)-1, LRT-2 and
Philippine National Rail (PNR) railway lines are all government owned, although
LRT-1’s operation and maintenance is run by a private corporation. Metro Rail
Transit (MRT)-3 is privately owned and government operated. The remaining
public transportation system of buses, jeepneys, tricycles, taxis, TNVS and ferries
are all privately owned.
This privatization-driven approach has resulted in insufficient
trains, buses and jeepneys for the growing population, uncomfortable and poorly
maintained and at times unsafe vehicles, and an extremely fragmented and unreliable
public transportation system.
Poor public transport has resulted in the proliferation of taxis,
TNVS, and, for those who can afford this, private cars and motorcycles. Road
and parking space are so scarce that traffic reached crisis levels long ago.
NCR is a metropolis of 16 cities with a population of some 12.9
million. It is so poorly planned that 10 of its cities are among the 50 most
congested on the planet, out of some 1,860 big cities worldwide. The Asian
Development Bank (ADB) notes that Metro Manila taken in its entirety is the
most congested city in developing Asia. Manila was meanwhile reported this year
as already the most densely populated city in the world. NCR is a bloated
center of economic activity where real estate development is dictated by the
profit-seeking of developers, oligarch firms, and foreign transnational
corporations rather than the logic of livability and ecological soundness.
Employment and livelihood opportunities are scarce in the rest of
the country so residents stay in NCR and are joined by a steady stream of
work-seeking migrants from the provinces. According to the Metropolitan Manila
Development Authority (MMDA), an additional 2.7 million commute daily from
Bulacan, Cavite, Pampanga and Rizal. The resulting strain on social and
economic infrastructure is inevitable.
All this combines to create a seemingly irresolvable mass
transport crisis.
Yet, the mass transport crisis can be solved.
There can be sufficient, efficient, convenient and affordable
public mass transport for all. The Duterte administration just has to
acknowledge the crisis, take responsibility, and assert its regulatory
authority over the transport system and regional development.
The government can immediately take steps to fix
privatization-driven mass transport problems and irrational profit-driven urban
planning. The following are proposed:
- Address corruption and inefficiency. The
government agencies and corporations responsible for the poor rail service and
frequent breakdowns should be held accountable and penalized. Self-serving and
inflexible contracts should be rescinded and irregularities exposed. The
operations of transport services should be open to public scrutiny.
- Increase the capacity and reliability
of current rail systems. Rolling stock and rails have to be
added and upgraded. The rail systems are clearly deteriorating – average
monthly passenger traffic of LRT1 (11.2 million in August 2015), LRT2 (5.2
million as of August 2019), MRT (8.7 million in 2018) and PNR’s Metro Manila
commuter service (1.1 million in 2018) are all much smaller than in 2014. Fewer
trains are in service because of safety issues and increasingly frequent
breakages and accidents, among other reasons. PNR’s operating distance has
fallen to just 100 kilometers or less than one-tenth of 1,100 kilometers of
route in the 1970s.
- Add buses and jeepneys with government
support. Buses and jeepneys are visibly overloaded
especially during rush hour and in heavy routes. Yet they are essential mass
transport options and already account for 69% of the total number of trips
taken in NCR every day. The average occupancy of buses is 35.3 persons and
jeepneys 10 persons compared to just 1.7 persons for cars. Jeepney
modernization must be done without displacing small operators and drivers and
in a way that actually improves their conditions.
- Reduce the volume of private motorized
vehicles especially in the most congested streets.
Additional public road transport requires additional road space. Private
vehicles only account for some 31% of trips in Metro Manila per day but take up
78% of its road space. EDSA has a maximum carrying capacity of 6,000 vehicles
in one direction per hour but the current volume is 6,800 to as much as 7,500
during rush hour – yet 66% of vehicles are unfilled private cars and only 3.5%
are over-crowded buses and jeepneys. Cycling and walking should also be
encouraged for shorter trips.
- Integrate the different transport
modes. The different rail, bus, and jeepney services
need to be made more seamless and convenient. Coordination between the
Department of Transport (DOTr), MMDA and local government units has to be
improved. There must also be proper regulation of bus and jeepney franchises
and licenses. A rational mass transport scheme is needed including
commuter-friendly route rationalization.
- Improve the flow of traffic. Proposals
to restrict and regulate the number of private cars on the road should be prioritized.
However, other proposals such as opening up the exclusive gated communities and
private subdivisions scattered across NCR that block or otherwise impede the
smooth flow of traffic should be considered. Mobility is a public good that the
majority should be able to benefit from.
- Arrest the explosive real estate development. The relentless building of office, retail, residential and leisure/hotel space in Metro Manila has fueled the explosive wealth of real estate tycoons. Driven by business process outsourcing (BPOs) and Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), office space expansion has risen to double the historical average and Metro Manila is set to become the world’s third largest office market. Real estate profits are soaring at the expense of gravely worsening congestion and straining heavily overburdened transport infrastructure.
These will however only be stop-gap measures in the absence of
more far-reaching medium- and long-term measures to develop mass transport as a
public service. Major improvements will only be possible with greater and more
responsible government ownership and control of the public mass transport
system. The government needs to continuously improve its expertise and capacity
to provide quality and cost-efficient services. Transport solutions that
support industrialization and give attention to the many legitimate
environmental concerns should be prioritized. The uncontrolled and worsening
congestion of the NCR also needs to be addressed.
The following are proposed:
- Renationalize the rail system. The
government has a long history of running rail transport systems and only
started privatizing these in recent decades. This essential service and
backbone of mass transport has to be taken out of the hands of private
companies and returned to public control. This will also allow for a more
organized and unionized workforce.
- Nationalization of buses and jeepneys.
These have been largely private-run in the country. The process can be phased
starting with cooperativization, then joint ventures, and eventually
nationalization. Likewise, this will allow for a more organized and unionized
workforce.
- Disperse economic activity to
surrounding regions. Moreover, livable Metro Manila cities
and real balanced development is only possible with a general national program
of agrarian reform, rural development and national industrialization.
All these must be done according to a comprehensive and rational
mass transport plan. This will inevitably require significant amounts of
government support. Mass transport is intrinsically expensive because of its
capital-intensive nature and the need for subsidies to ensure that it is affordable
to commuters of all income levels; usage also varies widely across different
routes and times.
Resources can be raised for this. This should primarily be from a
more progressive tax system giving stress on higher direct taxes on income and
wealth. Taxation always involves trade-offs and balancing costs and benefits. But
the most important operating principle is taxing according to the ability to
pay to provide a public good such as mass transport, that the majority should
benefit from most of all.
The grossly regressive Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN)
law and its other proposals should be corrected to increase personal income and
estate taxes on the wealthiest families and to increase corporate income taxes
on large corporations.
Further revenues for the transport system can be raised by taxing
extremely profitable real estate interests which are currently the main
beneficiaries from public transport infrastructure. This can include taxing
windfall gains for real estate developers, differentiated rates and additional
fees for high value properties or developments in congested areas, and reducing
or removing fiscal incentives for Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA)-registered
office space in Metro Manila. Other possible revenue sources include taxing
private car users more – congestion road charges, taxes on luxury or multiple
car ownership, parking fees, and the like can be considered more seriously.
The mass transport crisis is just another stark symptom of deeper
problems of anarchic, elite-driven, and market-oriented development. It is
clearer than ever that radical solutions are needed to solve the mass transport
crisis in Metro Manila. This is just a stop away from realizing that radical
solutions likewise are needed to solve the social and economic crisis suffered
by tens of millions of Filipinos. ###
Photo from Manila Today