The Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) said priority should be given to public utility vehicles (PUVs) like buses and jeepneys to move more people especially during rush hours e in the absence of an efficient mass transportation system.
Heeding the call of the Metro Manila Development Authority for suggestion, the MAP is pushing for various measures to alleviate traffic in Metro Manila. The group said the cost of congestion is estimated at P3.4 billion this year for
13.4 million person trips.
The MAP, government should maximize , but regulate the existing PUVs to move more commuters and even put more commuter transport vehicles on the road and more lanes during rush hours, 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 4:30 to 9 p.m.
“The imperative is the efficient use of PUVs (buses and jeepneys)… They must be operated efficiently as a system to quickly unload and load passengers at designated. Higher passenger throughput is the key,” the MAP said.
The group suggested PUVs should be given a window long enough in the morning and again in the evening to help in transporting the massive number of commuters.
The group suggested to eliminate number coding for PUVs during designated rush hours to encourage more use of public transport rather than private vehicles.
However, it said number of PUVs should be limited on non-rush hours — 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. — through a modified coding system to give way to private vehicles during these times.
Another suggestion from MAP is the assignment of a special flying (mobile) task force to unclog chokepoints along critical routes to quickly untangle them before traffic backup. There must be accountability.
“Traffic supervisors failing to do their job must be yanked out and replaced. Unless this is done, the bad practices will continue with impunity,” MAP said.
The MAP said the horrendous traffic is directly affected because of the employees of its members crying for a solution.
The group estimates the P3.4 billion cost for 13.4 million person trips for the year us based on factors, such as the value of time lost due to delay, fuel costs, vehicle operating costs, health impact and greenhouse gas emission (or pollution).
This translates to P250 per person trip per day which is around 40 percent of the P600 daily minimum wage in Metro Manila.
