WAITING for a ride home for three hours on three consecutive days last week make me think about looking for a job near my residence. After getting a ride, it still took me 2.5 to three hours to reach home. And that did not include 1.5 to two hours of commute from home to work in the morning.
Having to live with four to six hours of precious time wasted in daily commute is quite horrible. Heavy rains that fell during rush hours last week made commuting in Metro Manila more frustrating than in previous days because of flash floods that rendered major roads impassable.
Chairman Danilo Lim of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said the problems we are experiencing started 40 years ago and is made worse by the lack of foresight of one administration after another.
At a forum last Tuesday organized by The Manila Times at Conrad Hotel in Pasay City, Lim presented an ambitious plan to make Metro Manila a “smart city” like the highly urbanized Tokyo in Japan and Seoul in South Korea.
Lim said MMDA has identified the following problems that aggravate the traffic situation in Metro Manila:
– Clogged roads and sidewalks
– Infrastructures encroaching the streets
– Illegally parked vehicles
– Undisciplined road users
– Inconsistent, poorly designed and insufficient transport infrastructure
– High volume of vehicles
– Poor urban planning
The problem areas enumerated, I noticed, did not include weak enforcement of traffic rules and corrupt traffic enforcers who allow vendors and hawkers to occupy not only sidewalks but also the outer lanes of major roads in exchange for money.
Lim may have to go to Quiapo incognito, preferably on a Friday, when more people hear mass at the church. He should observe the traffic enforcers there who allow vendors to encroach the outermost lane while private vehicles occupy up to the second lane, leaving only two lanes passable.
The “smart city” plan calls for integrated policies, programs and services among all 16 cities and one municipality composing Metro Manila, as well as its neighboring towns. Integrating the policies of Metro Manila LGUs alone will be a herculean task.
The vision is to install smart infrastructures to monitor flood, landslide, fire, and accidents and warn communities. These infrastructures would enable authorities to come up with situational analysis based on gathered data in order to deliver timely response to problems.
Lim candidly admitted that the plans may seem ostentatious and inconceivable. It is ambitious, indeed, but, at least, the MMDA is starting somewhere. As the saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Last May 31, the MMDA hosted a forum on “Intelligent Traffic System and Smart City Components with focus on the wonders of the Intelligent Transport System (ITS).” This was ostensibly designed “to help the nation’s capital ease its traffic situation and how people can get advanced facilities to improve their way of life.”
Given its limited manpower and resources, the MMDA promises to provide Metro Manilans better service through intensified enforcement of laws and upgrading of equipment, said Lim, a retired Army general. He said new roads are being constructed to catch up with the backlog of many years.
It felt good for about 30 minutes to be transported to another world while looking at Lim’s power point slides showing an animated presentation of Seoul’s comprehensive and integrated traffic system.
However, less than an hour later, it was back to reality. I was stuck for 30 minutes in traffic on Libertad going to the LRT station. And in the next three consecutive days, I went home late because it took me much longer than in previous days to get a ride home and travel from Intramuros to Old Balara in Quezon City.
During my backbreaking jeepney rides, I just keep hoping that when the MRT-7 project is completed in two years, it will be integrated with LRT-1 and MRT-3 to significantly ease my commuting time. While I believe that the MMDA’s smart plan is too ambitious, I still entertain the possibility that it can be done, but we all have to do our share.
Having to live with four to six hours of precious time wasted in daily commute is quite horrible. Heavy rains that fell during rush hours last week made commuting in Metro Manila more frustrating than in previous days because of flash floods that rendered major roads impassable.
Chairman Danilo Lim of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said the problems we are experiencing started 40 years ago and is made worse by the lack of foresight of one administration after another.
At a forum last Tuesday organized by The Manila Times at Conrad Hotel in Pasay City, Lim presented an ambitious plan to make Metro Manila a “smart city” like the highly urbanized Tokyo in Japan and Seoul in South Korea.
Lim said MMDA has identified the following problems that aggravate the traffic situation in Metro Manila:
– Clogged roads and sidewalks
– Infrastructures encroaching the streets
– Illegally parked vehicles
– Undisciplined road users
– Inconsistent, poorly designed and insufficient transport infrastructure
– High volume of vehicles
– Poor urban planning
The problem areas enumerated, I noticed, did not include weak enforcement of traffic rules and corrupt traffic enforcers who allow vendors and hawkers to occupy not only sidewalks but also the outer lanes of major roads in exchange for money.
Lim may have to go to Quiapo incognito, preferably on a Friday, when more people hear mass at the church. He should observe the traffic enforcers there who allow vendors to encroach the outermost lane while private vehicles occupy up to the second lane, leaving only two lanes passable.
The “smart city” plan calls for integrated policies, programs and services among all 16 cities and one municipality composing Metro Manila, as well as its neighboring towns. Integrating the policies of Metro Manila LGUs alone will be a herculean task.
The vision is to install smart infrastructures to monitor flood, landslide, fire, and accidents and warn communities. These infrastructures would enable authorities to come up with situational analysis based on gathered data in order to deliver timely response to problems.
Lim candidly admitted that the plans may seem ostentatious and inconceivable. It is ambitious, indeed, but, at least, the MMDA is starting somewhere. As the saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Last May 31, the MMDA hosted a forum on “Intelligent Traffic System and Smart City Components with focus on the wonders of the Intelligent Transport System (ITS).” This was ostensibly designed “to help the nation’s capital ease its traffic situation and how people can get advanced facilities to improve their way of life.”
Given its limited manpower and resources, the MMDA promises to provide Metro Manilans better service through intensified enforcement of laws and upgrading of equipment, said Lim, a retired Army general. He said new roads are being constructed to catch up with the backlog of many years.
It felt good for about 30 minutes to be transported to another world while looking at Lim’s power point slides showing an animated presentation of Seoul’s comprehensive and integrated traffic system.
However, less than an hour later, it was back to reality. I was stuck for 30 minutes in traffic on Libertad going to the LRT station. And in the next three consecutive days, I went home late because it took me much longer than in previous days to get a ride home and travel from Intramuros to Old Balara in Quezon City.
During my backbreaking jeepney rides, I just keep hoping that when the MRT-7 project is completed in two years, it will be integrated with LRT-1 and MRT-3 to significantly ease my commuting time. While I believe that the MMDA’s smart plan is too ambitious, I still entertain the possibility that it can be done, but we all have to do our share.
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