SEN. Richard J. Gordon could be right when he flared up at malls located along the Edsa and other roads in Metro Manila that are allegedly causing monstrous traffic jams costing multibillion- peso a day in lost opportunities.
But he could also be wrong if he takes a second look at the situation because these malls and corporate offices actually also served as traffic mitigators.
Gordon said: “Traffic in Metro Manila continues to get worse, now it costs about P3.5 billion a day. Other cities in the country are now having traffic problems, too.
“This problem is caused by the malls built by rapacious, greedy, avaricious, predatory and opportunistic people who take unfair advantage of the country’s infrastructures and corrupt officials who allow them. If you notice, all malls are located in high traffic density areas.”
The Philippine office of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) has reported that the worsening traffic in Metro Manila now costs P3.5 billion in lost opportunities per day, and highlighted the need for new and modern infrastructure to ease congestion.
“It’s about time that this country plans its cities right. In other countries, you cannot see malls along the highways—they are built in the middle of the town and people flocking to the malls do not cause traffic to grind to a halt. Dito sa atin, nasa tabi ng highway ang malls kaya ang traffic hindi umaandar. Dapat hindi pinapayagan na magtayo ng malls along highways and national roads,” Gordon said.
Why Gordon could also be wrong is that these malls along Edsa in Parañaque, Pasay City, Makati, Mandaluyong, Quezon City, Caloocan City, Malabon and Navotas also unmistakably served as traffic mitigators.
Just imagine if the hundreds of vehicles parked in more than 100 shopping malls and corporate offices during office hours and late at night are also moving along Edsa and other thoroughfares, traffic would definitely escalate from bad to worse in the metropolis.
So you see, these malls are not entirely traffic liabilities but also served as traffic mitigators during rush hours.
If we quantify the number of vehicles parked in these malls and use it as an economic variable, I don’t think the P3.5 billion daily cost of traffic in lost opportunities is really that accurate.
In the economy of distance and time, there are also important variables our planners and lawmakers must consider. Among these are motorists who do not understand the meaning of solid, double solid, broken lines and other traffic signs that are often violated especially by those who got their licenses to drive from equally ignorant fixers and corrupt motor vehicle officials who do not follow strict procedures in examining and actually testing prospective drivers.
What Mr. Gordon should look into is what happened to the Traffic Impact Assessment for Sustainable Traffic Management and Transportation Planning in Urban Areas done many years ago by Engr. Jose Regin F. Regidor, assistant professor of civil engineering at the University of the Philippines, and Engr. Rene Val R. Teodoro of the UP’s Extension Specialist National Center for Transportation Studies.
Part of their studies, called traffic impact assessment (TIA), is a powerful tool for engineers and planners to determine the possible effects of a project on the transportation and traffic system. Often it is applied only to the direct impact area and countermeasures for potential negative impacts are specific for the development.
Their study was a useful tool for local governments, especially for managing traffic and in planning their respective transportation systems. Two cases involving projects that were required to undertake TIA are compared, and results are examined in relation to the sustainability of traffic management and transportation planning strategies in Metro Manila and in other cities, as well.
The experiences presented and discussed in their paper underline the need for the government to take an active role in promoting TIA. This will ensure that stakeholders would participate in the TIA process, leading to the careful and substantive assessment of impacts of proposed developments.
Their study said: “Traffic impact studies are a fundamental part of the environmental impact assessment process for projects. These are not usually required in the Philippines yet recently more developers in Metro Manila have been required to undertake TIA to secure an environmental compliance certificate for their projects.
“The TIA includes formulation of traffic management schemes and recommendation of infrastructure for possible transportation and traffic problems that will be encountered during the construction and operation phases of projects. However, these specific traffic management schemes need to be integrated with other developments along with the overall scheme of the government.”
Their paper examines the common practices among developers in conducting traffic studies and compares two projects that were required to undertake TIA. Employing TIA for an integrated approach to traffic management and transportation planning is discussed and recommendations are made to promote TIA in this regard.
These are the things that Senator Gordon should look into, whether or not the idea to solve the worsening traffic in the metropolis is still being followed by those concerned in solving the traffic problem in the metropolis.
To reach the writer, e-mail cecilio.arillo@gmail.com.