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ALL government agencies should support the call for a comprehensive, holistic approach to the transportation and traffic crisis. Eight recommendations for the consideration of the President and the Cabinet were detailed yesterday, and below are nine more:
9. A long-standing budget imbalance with negligible annual allocation for road-based public transport and active transport needs to be rectified urgently.
The combined annual budgets for railways and for vehicle-centric road and bridge infrastructure now exceeds P1 trillion, while less than the equivalent of 1 percent of their combined budgets is allocated for road-based public transport (e.g., bus, jeepney, UV [utility vehicle] Express) and active transport (pedestrian and cycling), which the vast majority of Filipinos depend on. Because of this historical budget imbalance, vehicle-centric road and bridge investments end up attracting greater motor vehicle use leading to worsening traffic and pollution.
In addition, placing all our public transport investment "eggs" in the railway basket is also financially unsound as railways have very high capital and operating costs, limiting their expansion, replicability and long-term financial viability. While highly desirable, most railway projects, because of their longer gestation periods, will only deliver benefits in the next administration. While rail systems are very much needed, it is not reasonable or prudent to spend nearly the entire budget for public transport development on a few rail projects, leaving almost nothing for active transport and road-based public transport projects which have more immediate, inclusive and poverty-alleviation impact.
10. This problematic budget imbalance can be rectified with two directives from the President.
One, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) should design all urban road and bridge projects, whether rehabilitation or new, to prioritize the safe and efficient movement of public transport, pedestrians and cyclists. Two, the budget for active transport infrastructure and road-based public transport development should be at least as much as the budget for railway development.
The benefits flowing from these two directives will be visible, tangible, pro-poor and broad-based — plus delivered within the current administration. The bonus for car owners is that they will experience less traffic.
11. With regard to the first proposed directive, the DPWH will be expected to build or rehabilitate major urban roads and bridges (national roads in urban areas).
These should have fully accessible sidewalks lined with shade trees and greenery, protected bike lanes, safe intersections for at-grade pedestrian crossing, properly-designed public utility vehicle stops and dedicated lanes for public transport, in addition to mixed traffic lanes for motor vehicles.
The concept is that urban roads as much as possible should cater to the entire range of road users, including those in cars. (A practical reference for achieving this result is found in the Global Street Design Guide by the Global Designing Cities Initiative).
This approach will not only make our urban spaces cooler, less polluted, more walkable and livable, it will also make roads less congested as more Filipinos with cars will be encouraged to leave their cars at home. Because the need for urban road redesign is pervasive and covers the entire country, the DPWH will likely require a larger, rather than a smaller, budget.
The DPWH also needs an urban road design manual to guide the design of its roads and bridges in urban areas; the Global Street Design Guide can provide many template road designs that would be appropriate for the Philippine context.
12. The second proposed directive will provide a measurable, monitorable budget target that would ensure that resources are provided to compensate for the many decades of negligence.
Road-based public transport, the mainstay of the public transport system, has been run almost entirely with private resources and initiative, leaving the sector starved for funding, many vehicles in disrepair and many areas unserved.
As a result, despite being an essential service, road-based public transport has suffered from the near complete absence of government support, leaving commuters often competing with each other or stranded in the absence of a predictable, reliable service. (Public transport should be viewed as an essential service, similar to health and education. Without access to public transport, most Filipinos are not able to exercise their fundamental rights or receive basic services. The sufficiency and safety of public transport should therefore be an obligation of our public authorities).
The same insensitivity and lack of consideration is evident in the active transport sector where there is hardly a sidewalk in the country that complies with the basic requirements of our "accessibility laws." Improving our pedestrian infrastructure to make it fully compliant will require significant investment, but it will be money well spent, delivering early, pro-poor and broad-based impact.
13. One reason for the insufficiency of public transportation in many areas is that planning and management of road-based public transport has been lodged with national agencies that have inadequate capacity, skills and local knowledge.
The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) operates mainly as a permit-issuing bureaucracy, responding to applications, without regular monitoring of the sufficiency of public transport services or measurement of commuter welfare. (The LTFRB's business model of responding to private offers to operate a transport service has its roots in a now-obsolete law, Commonwealth Act 146, which was passed in 1936).
In countries with high-quality public transport, local governments, rather than national agencies, are accountable and responsible for transportation and mobility outcomes; the Philippines needs to begin a transition to this model which fits squarely with the ongoing devolution of key functions and services to local government units. The Philippine public transport governance framework is therefore in need of fundamental reform to bring it in line with global best practice.
14. The road-based public transport sector requires a long-term, adequately funded transformational program that will enable Filipinos to enjoy safe, sufficient and attractive public transport services.
The preparation of this long-term program should begin with a review involving all key stakeholders of the Department of Transportation's Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program — now the Public Transport Improvement Program, extracting the lessons from the experience over the past six years.
The redesign of the program should be based on well-documented pilot projects that are used for refining systems and procedures, demonstrate effective and successful approaches, and build capacities of the program managers and implementers. There should be candid recognition that current resources and implementation capacities in government are limited and, therefore, it is not possible to do "everything, everywhere, all at once."
This is why pilot projects at the onset will be most valuable in the design of a phased, long-term (possibly 10-year) transformational program for the road-based public transport sector.
15. The long-term road-based public transport improvement program should be crafted with the key ingredients in mind:
– Institutional and legal reform and a phased transition that will lead to local government units becoming accountable and responsible for transportation outcomes in their localities (the exception would be in metropolitan areas where a metropolitan public transportation agency would be desirable);
– Extensive capacity-building programs for national government agencies, local government units, and public transport operators and drivers;
– Generous vehicle financing that will motivate stakeholders to shift to new organizational arrangements and enable fleet expansion and replacement to meet present and future travel demand;
– Business models that offer financial transparency, sustainability and stability for transport operators and drivers;
– Just transition for transport operators and drivers that prioritizes existing operators on every route and offers them viable and attractive options for participating in any new transport services;
– Assistance and compensation programs for any operator or worker who decides to exit the transport industry or experiences dislocation in the transition to new public transportation systems; and
– A multiyear investment plan that includes public and private financing of capacity development, stops, stations, terminals, depots, vehicles, dedicated vehicle lanes, fare-collection and fleet management systems, bus rapid transit systems and social impact mitigation measures.
16. In parallel with making public transport, walking and cycling available, attractive and affordable options to using a private motor vehicle, it will also be important to manage travel demand by applying four possible measures:
– Maximizing the opportunities for online instead of face-to-face interaction;
– Revising zoning regulations to encourage a desirable mix of land uses, job opportunities and services to be available within the same zone or district in order to reduce the need for residents to travel outside of their localities;
– Road congestion charging in selected districts or corridors in order to reduce the volume of motor vehicles and manage pollution levels; and
– Parking reform, including parking taxes/levies on nonresidential parking spaces and the removal of minimum parking requirements in buildings, offices and commercial establishments. Parking levies and road congestion charges can generate additional revenues to support the financial sustainability of public transport services, and, at the same time, discourage motor vehicle use.
17. In summary, the call for a comprehensive, holistic strategy to improve our urban transportation environment should signal a "turning point" away from failed strategies.
Current approaches that focus on the faster travel of private motor vehicles only attract greater motor vehicle use, leading to increased road congestion, pollution and climate change while disadvantaging and harming all non-car road users who represent the majority.
The successful formula worldwide is to promote a shift to efficient and sustainable travel modes — public transport, walking and cycling (including the use of light electric vehicles) — and prioritizing these modes. If the vision in the National Transport Strategy of "moving people, not cars" is adopted by all agencies working in concert — including by budget, finance and planning agencies, millions of Filipinos will be able to experience significant pro-poor, broad-based and tangible benefits by 2028.
Robert Y. Siy is a development economist, city and regional planner, and public transport advocate. He is a co-convenor of the Move As One Coalition. He can be reached at mobilitymatters.ph@yahoo.com or followed on Twitter at @RobertRsiy.
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