‘Infra drive to slash transport costs’
Credit to Author: ANNA LEAH E. GONZALES| Date: Fri, 09 Aug 2019 16:17:23 +0000
THE government’s ambitious infrastructure program would not only reduce traffic congestion in Metro Manila, but also slash transport costs to a little over P2 billion by 2022.
This finding emerged from the follow-up survey on the Roadmap for Transport Infrastructure Development for the Greater Capital Region, or Roadmap 2, the results and recommendations of which the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board’s Committee on Infrastructure endorsed for board approval during a meeting led by Public Works Secretary Mark Villar on August 5, the NEDA said in a statement on Friday.
According to Roadmap 2, the Build, Build, Build program would reduce transport costs from P3.5 billion a day in 2017 to P2.13 billion daily by 2022.
“With the Build, Build, Build projects now underway, the public can expect a significant reduction in traffic congestion in Metro Manila as some of the projects near completion,” Villar was quoted as saying in the statement.
Roadmap 2 updated the information and results of the Roadmap for Transport Infrastructure Development for Metropolitan Manila and its Surrounding Areas (Regions 3 and 4A), or the Transport Roadmap, with technical assistance provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency. The board approved the initial roadmap in 2014.
Under the updated roadmap, the impact of the government’s infrastructure drive, as well as proposed additional projects, on the overall transport network performance of Mega Manila, was analyzed for the short term (by 2022) and long term (by 2035).
Transport projects under study included 29 railway projects, 14 road-based public-transport projects, two traffic management projects, 15 expressway projects, nine bridge/flyover projects, and 38 urban road projects with a total investment requirement of at least P2.8 trillion until 2035.
“We know that Filipinos desire greater mobility. The Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 also calls for efficiency in cities and connectivity between growth centers and lagging areas to promote growth and reduce regional disparities. This is why we are making our transport system convenient and efficient,” NEDA Officer in Charge-Undersecretary for Investment Programming Jonathan Uy said.
Roadmap 2, the NEDA said, also calls for the implementation of secondary and sub-urban roads, and other transport sub-sector strategies aligned with the proposed development of other growth centers in the north and south of Metro Manila.
With the survey results, Build, Build, Build in Mega Manila is expected to be fine-tuned toward speeding up implementation timelines of ongoing infrastructure projects and identifying needed priority infrastructure projects for the long-term to spread socioeconomic development to other parts of Luzon.