Demonstrating political will
Credit to Author: ROBERT SIY| Date: Fri, 17 May 2019 17:23:03 +0000
Political will is about doing the right thing even if it meets resistance, even if it might be unpopular. So much of what is needed to cure our damaged mobility requires political will.
The solutions to our mobility crisis require more than just improving infrastructure, better traffic management or enforcement of rules. We have to break out of outdated practices and obsolete business models. Do we have the political will and stamina to launch bold, path-breaking initiatives and see them through?
As the economy continues to grow, more Filipinos can afford to use private cars and motorcycles for their daily travel. To accommodate and even encourage continued expansion of car use on our limited road space only worsens congestion. But this is exactly what we have been doing for the past 50 years—and the results are clear to all.
Because public transport is insufficient or of poor quality, because it’s difficult or unsafe to walk or bike around the city, commuters are motivated to shift to cars and motorcycles as soon as they can afford to—making all of us worse off. Reversing this trend is what our leaders need to prioritize.
We need to make public transport, walking and cycling safe, convenient, fast and affordable, so that daily commuters will choose them over using a private car. This is where political will is the crucial ingredient.
Making public transport, walking and cycling attractive means challenging the established order: where roads and bridges are built primarily for car use; where traffic management and enforcement are for the purpose of making private motor vehicles travel faster; where pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users have to give way so that the interests of car users are served. It is also about revising performance targets, manuals, guidelines, and technical standards of government agencies so that the mobility needs of people become paramount.
To reduce congestion in cities and improve mobility, government needs to prioritize modes of travel that maximize people throughout and benefit the greatest number. It needs to make these travel options high quality so that even those who own cars will leave their cars at home.
A 3.5-meter-wide lane devoted to cars can move at most 2,000 people per hour in one direction; that same lane, if devoted to bicycles, can move 14,000 per persons per hour; if used as a walkway, 19,000 pedestrians per hour can pass through. The same lane, if devoted to high capacity public transport, such as trains or buses, can move over 20,000 persons per hour per direction. Makes a lot of sense to go for the most efficient options, but political will is needed to alter current arrangements.
Political will is needed to prioritize high capacity vehicles over low capacity ones on busy roads. For example, the Metro Manila Development Authority’s (MMDA) proposal to prioritize higher capacity vehicles on EDSA (by limiting entry of single occupant cars) was a sound one; it should be revived with an implementation plan that will deliver better mobility for the remaining vehicles on EDSA.
Political will is needed so that bus rapid transit or BRT (where buses can move faster on dedicated lanes, liberated from friction with private vehicles) can bring relief to congested roads.
Implementing BRT is a recognition that a bus carrying 50-80 persons has a greater right to using limited road space than a car with only one or two persons. It is precisely on congested roads where BRT will deliver the greatest positive impact. When car users stuck in traffic see BRT buses moving fast, many of them will be motivated to take public transport and leave their cars at home.
Political will is needed to lift the number coding of public transport vehicles in Metro Manila, so that additional transport supply can address the obvious shortage of public transport, so that millions of commuters can have shorter queues and can get home earlier. In the end, the policy of reducing public transport supply to solve traffic is self-defeating and short-sighted. When commuters face oppressive commutes every day, their natural inclination will be to shift to private vehicle use, even though this worsens mobility for all.
Political will is needed to stem the proliferation of illegally parked private vehicles on public roads. In many Philippine cities, streets are clogged by illegal parking, some even atop the sidewalk. Not only does illegal parking constrict the normal flow of pedestrians and vehicles, it is also a public safety hazard, because fire engines, ambulances and other rescue vehicles cannot get to neighborhoods blocked by illegal street parking.
Political will is needed to allocate road space to bicycle lanes, even when many argue that roads are already congested with cars. We should not permit the welfare of the vast majority without cars to be subservient to the needs of the more affluent. Bike lanes can carry seven times more people than the same space used for private cars. Many more would use bicycles—a zero emission and climate-friendly option—if the city had a network of protected bicycle lanes.
Political will is needed so that the 12 or 13 new bridges across Pasig (all originally designed for cars) are used in ways that yield the greatest economic and social benefit. Devoting some of the new bridges for public transport, walking and cycling would move more people and change the character of our metropolis in a positive way.
Political will is needed to push legislation that will create and strengthen metropolitan authorities and enable more effective coordination among local government units (LGUs) in metropolitan areas. Institutions like the MMDA need to have the power, budget resources and accountability to ensure that essential services such as public transportation are delivered in a cohesive and responsive manner. The world’s great cities such as London, Tokyo and Seoul all rely on strong metropolitan authorities with elected governors.
The recent polls have delivered a strong mandate to the Duterte administration. With three years to go, now is the best time to demonstrate that there is no shortage of political will to drive the transformational reforms required in the transport sector. Filipinos deserve better, now.
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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