Is your mobility getting worse?
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2020 16:58:49 +0000
THIS month, mobility got a lot worse for hundreds of thousands of Metro Manila commuters who use the South Luzon Expressway (SLEx). The construction of the Skyway Extension and its related lane closures resulted in much heavier traffic in and around the Alabang area. Car trips from Alabang into Makati required two or three hours, instead of the usual one.
But the impact was worse for those relying on public transport. Southbound buses on SLEx were denied the option of using the Skyway and were forced to join the huge traffic bottleneck on the ground. With longer travel times, buses racked up fewer round trips and carried fewer passengers. Social media was flooded with complaints from commuters in long queues or unable to find rides.
Facing slow journeys and fewer round trips, some bus companies cut their services. Ube Express, which operates the Premium Airport Bus, suspended its operations from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport to Alabang. Buses, including point-to-point (P2P) buses, could only serve a limited number of passengers. This exacerbated the already horrendous congestion on SLEx and in the Alabang area, with many P2P riders switching back to private car use.
The service cuts of bus companies should be interpreted as alarm bells ringing. Two decades ago, in Seoul, nearly 50 percent of bus companies closed shop or went bankrupt because daily rush hour traffic had slowed to a crawl. The same could happen here unless we revise our approach to solving congestion.
By allowing public transport services to deteriorate and by favoring private car use, the government is taking a huge step backward in its fight against traffic congestion. Moreover, when bus services are prioritized lower than private cars, the government fails in its duty to protect the welfare of commuters who represent the majority of urban residents.
How should the government deal with the construction-related impact of the Skyway extension? First, the Tollways Regulatory Board (TRB) should apply the principles under the National Transport Policy and instruct the tollway operator to give preference to buses and other public transport over private vehicles. Buses, which are the highest-capacity vehicles on our roads, should be prioritized in the use of SLEx and the Skyway (and on any road for that matter), rather than restricted. If there is a forced reduction in the number of expressway lanes, the tollway operator should reduce the lanes and tollgates for private cars while preserving the lanes and tollgates assigned to buses.
Second, the TRB should introduce measures that enable buses and other public transport vehicles to have faster travel on expressways. In the most congested sections of SLEx, there could be a “bus-only” lane that would exclude all private cars, allowing buses to move faster. This arrangement delivers the message that you can have speedier and more convenient travel when you use a bus instead of your private vehicle.
Third, the TRB should work out a scheme (together with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, bus companies, and the tollway operator) to enable buses to move faster through toll gates. The concept is to have toll gates for buses without any physical barrier moving up and down. Buses should be able to pass through tollgates at a reduced speed, but without coming to a full stop. This approach to toll collection is already operational in many other countries, based on a combination of radio frequency identification and camera-based vehicle plate recognition technologies. To facilitate the automated processing of toll payments, bus companies could leave a deposit with the tollway operator, to be replenished periodically once the deposit is consumed.
In summary, the TRB’s role should be to advance the welfare of the general public, rather than just the interest of private car users. The TRB’s decisions should therefore avoid any harm to those relying on public transportation. Applying this principle, the preparation of a tollway project’s traffic impact assessment should go beyond the project’s impact on private motor vehicles. The evaluation of an expressway expansion project should include an analysis of how public transport users would be affected and the identification of measures to mitigate negative impacts.
Going forward, the National Economic and Development Authority and transportation agencies need to apply commuter-friendly criteria in selecting new transportation investments. Infrastructure development that merely provides more road space for private cars does not help our mobility crisis; it only offers temporary relief. Worse, if a new expressway or bridge encourages more private car use, it only makes our roads more congested.
Infrastructure that attracts people to walk, bicycle or use public transport creates a virtuous cycle of reduced congestion as more people abandon their private cars and motorcycles. To solve our transportation problems, we need first to understand why our current practices have not worked, then we should apply a different formula.
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