Will Edsa BRT lead to more congestion?
ROBERT SIY
To answer this question, we need to understand why there’s congestion. Congestion arises mainly because road space is limited, and individuals aspire to use private cars and motorcycles instead of public transport, walking or cycling. Unsafe, unreliable and inadequate public transport forces more and more people every day to opt for private vehicles over it.
Over 500 cars and over 1,000 motorcycles added daily to the vehicle population in Metro Manila is the disastrous tide we have to turn back. More road expansion or bridge building can’t hope to defeat these numbers. To solve traffic congestion, we need to make public transport, walking or cycling more attractive than using a car or motorcycle. We have to convert today’s car users into users of mass transit and non-motorized transport.
Recently, we have heard a comment that the implementation of bus rapid transit (BRT) will cause more congestion, and that BRT shouldn’t be allowed on congested roads. It’s precisely on congested roads where BRT is needed and will work best.
The concept of BRT is to place high quality, low emission buses in exclusive lanes, separated from private cars so the buses can move faster and with greater predictability. BRT stations and vehicles are designed for fast boarding and alighting, mimicking the convenience, efficiency and capacity of train systems. EDSA is an ideal corridor for BRT.
Will BRT create more congestion? On the contrary, BRT is a weapon to reduce congestion. If we relegate BRT to roads without congestion, it would be like sending medicine to healthy individuals, while withholding treatment from those in pain. Because results can be delivered within this administration, EDSA BRT deserves high priority. Here are other reasons why the project now needs to be accelerated.
Upgraded MRT3, new Metro Manila Subway insufficient to decongest EDSA.
EDSA is the busiest corridor because it leads to key centers of jobs and activity around the city. By 2025, the demand for public transport on EDSA will exceed 2.5 million daily trips. By 2030, it will grow to over three million daily trips. Even with the Metro Manila Subway (capacity at 400,000 daily trips) and upgraded MRT3 (capacity at 800,000 daily trips), rail will serve less than half of the daily travel demand on EDSA. Think of the additional demand that will be unloaded on EDSA once MRT7 is operating.
EDSA BRT will move 1.6 million passengers in its initial year of operation. With additional and larger buses, its capacity expands to over 2.5 million daily passengers. A combination of MRT3, Subway and EDSA BRT can have a top capacity of 3.7 million high quality passenger trips, enough to cover demand up to 2030 without squeezing riders into every space on board the train or bus. This is what is needed to attract private vehicle users to shift to public transport. This is the solution to decongest EDSA.
If buses on EDSA remain low quality with slow and unpredictable travel times, many dissatisfied bus passengers
will flock to use the Subway and MRT3—the trains will be even more packed and the queues will be even longer than we see today. And neither bus nor rail passengers will consider mass transit as superior to taking a car.
Private car use will continue to rise, roads will be more congested, and travel speeds on EDSA will be even slower than what we see today.
EDSA BRT to cut congestion
The apprehension about EDSA BRT stems from the mistaken assumption that more lanes on EDSA will be taken away from private cars. What makes EDSA ideal for BRT is that, even now, two lanes at the curbside are for the use of buses. Curbside lanes for buses are inefficient because the buses are in constant friction with private vehicles that want to turn right or that are going into establishments or driveways at the curbside.
EDSA BRT will move the curbside bus lanes to the median. No additional lanes will be needed for EDSA BRT. This will free up three to four lanes at the curbside for exclusive use of private vehicles. EDSA BRT will actually enable private vehicles to have more road space than under the current arrangement.
Private vehicles to move faster
BRT will enable private vehicles in mixed traffic lanes to move faster. There are two effects that are at play. First, completely separating buses from private vehicles means that the flow of traffic will no longer be impeded by the conflict or friction between cars and buses. No more buses lingering at bus stops or competing with each other for passengers. Without buses blocking curbside lanes, cars move much faster.
The second effect is that many people in private vehicles will decide to shift to public transport when they see buses and trains going faster than cars. If BRT, MRT3 and the Subway work together to offer faster, more convenient, and more reliable mass transit options, we can expect many car users to leave their cars at home.
This “modal-shift” reduces the number of private vehicles on the road and enables the remaining cars to move faster in less congested space.
A good example is Guangzhou BRT which carries over a million passengers a day on a corridor just like EDSA. After Guangzhou BRT system was launched, car speeds on the same corridor improved significantly. In some sections, the corridor was able to move more than double the previous volume of cars.
Passengers to have shorter travel times.
Today, one of the distinct accomplishments of this administration is the expansion of the P2P bus network.
Passengers enjoy the convenience, safety and comfort of a high quality, low emission bus. The main problem with the P2P service is that travel times are getting longer and more unpredictable. Slower travel speeds increase operating costs and reduce the financial viability of the transport service, as each bus has fewer round trips in a day.
Using an exclusive bus lane enables P2P buses to move faster and to get to destinations sooner. A commuter from Fairview, Quezon City can reach Makati in a little more than one hour instead of today’s more-than-three-hour ordeal. BRT enables buses to achieve more round trips and to have significantly more capacity.
Both BRT and rail need to be in the “basket of solutions”.
The daily cost of Greater Manila traffic congestion has risen from P2.4 billion in 2014 to P3.5 billion in 2017, according to JICA. With a crisis of this magnitude, we need to apply all the tools at our disposal. If we leave BRT out of the “basket of solutions”, it would be like Pacquiao fighting with only one fist instead of two.
Buses complement rail services by bringing commuters closer to their destinations. A typical MRT3 passenger doesn’t end her journey along EDSA. She needs to travel further to places like Alabang, MOA, Makati Business District, Ortigas Center, and BGC.
To deliver high quality service, both buses and trains need to be designed for smooth transfers, fast travel and predictable journey times. With EDSA BRT, a passenger on MRT3 will be able to take the train for one part of the journey and then transfer to a BRT bus to bring her closer to the destination. This combination delivers a high-quality commuter experience. If one mode (rail) is high quality, while the other (bus) is not, public transport will remain unattractive to many.
EDSA BRT will build a city-wide network of walkways, bikeways to improve mobility for all.
The EDSA BRT Project will build a 120-km network of walkways and bikeways throughout Metro Manila, and improve pedestrian access within a 300-meter radius around each of the 63 BRT stations. Aside from delivering pro-poor transport infrastructure, this component for mobility enhancement will transform the character of the metropolis and make it more accessible for all age groups and capabilities, even physically-challenged persons.
One would be able to use a bicycle or jog all the way from Marikina to Ayala Ave. on a protected path. With a more walkable city, there would also be positive outcomes for the tourism industry and for the health sector.
EDSA BRT will be a valuable option in case MRT3 or Subway is not operating.
The busiest travel corridor in the country needs to have multiple mass transit options. A BRT system on EDSA would provide needed redundancy. In case of a shutdown of MRT3 or the Subway for any reason, there should be a high capacity mass transit alternative. Having EDSA BRT would also enable MRT3 to go off-line for larger-scale rehabilitation and expansion, if needed.
Robert Y. Siy is a development economist, city and regional planner, and public transport advocate. He can be reached at mobilitymatters.ph@yahoo.com or followed on Twitter @RobertRsiy
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