TRAVEL time and speed on major thoroughfares in the metropolis, including the Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (EDSA), showed some improvements in 2024, according to data from the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority.
The 2024 TomTom Traffic Index, which features 500 cities in 62 countries and was released two days ago, showed that Davao City has surged past Manila in the list of worst traffic in city centers worldwide.
Davao City ranked 8th while Manila stood at 14th. Caloocan City also figured in the list at 26th.
According to the TomTom traffic index, the average travel time per 10 kilometers in Davao City was 32 minutes and 59 seconds while commuters in Manila logged an average of 32 minutes and 10 seconds of travel time per 10 km.
Data from the MMDA showed that in 2023, the average travel speed during peak hours in Metro Manila’s major roadways was 24.46 kilometers per hour while travel time was 2.45 minutes per kilometer, or 24.50 minutes per 10km.
In 2024, the average travel speed during peak hours was 25.12 kph while travel time was at 2.40 minutes per kilometer, or 24 minutes per 10 kilometers.
“There is an improvement of 2.04 percent in average travel time for the year 2024 along major thoroughfares,” the MMDA said.
The same data also showed that the MMDA recorded an “all-time high” in daily traffic volume on EDSA on November 25, 2024, with 464,099 vehicles of all makes.
“This is the highest figure ever surveyed along EDSA since 1977,” the MMDA’s Traffic Engineering Center said.
“This increase was due to the unusual surge of vehicles during off-peak hours, coinciding with the implementation of the late mall hours opening from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.,” it added.
The agency said during the last holiday season, the lowest travel speeds recorded at EDSA were 11.61 and 14.48 kilometers per hour, respectively.
“These figures fell below the MMDA’s projected minimum travel speed of 15kph due to overcapacity along EDSA during peak hours,” it added.
On the second week of this month, the MMDA said it recorded an improved travel speed compared to December 2024 at 21.38 kph on EDSA.
This, it said, “was faster than the travel speeds recorded during the entire Christmas season of 2024, indicating a return to the regular heavy traffic flow on EDSA.”
EDSA is Metro Manila’s prime thoroughfare, running from Caloocan City in the north to Paranaque in the south.
Davao City’s dubious traffic world ranking should be a “wake-up call” and needs immediate action, according to former Davao City congressman Karlo Nograles.
“This alarming ranking is a wake-up call. If we do not address traffic now, it will only worsen as the city grows and develops. Coming up with traffic solutions must be a cornerstone of our city’s development agenda,” he said of the fact that Davao City is the worst in traffic among all Southeast Asian countries.
Per the TomTom index, Davao City residents take almost 33 minutes to travel 10 kilometers. TomTom said the city’s population loses 136 hours—almost six days—at rush hours yearly in Davao City, the sixth worst in the world. In terms of congestion level, Davao City ranked third in the world, while Manila placed 27th.
Nograles said traffic congestion in Davao City “is more than an inconvenience — it’s a roadblock to economic growth. When goods take longer to move, businesses lose money, and our productivity suffers. This issue affects every Dabawenyo, from commuters to entrepreneurs—mayaman at mahirap (rich or poor)—and addressing it must be a top priority.”
The former Civil Service Commission chief lamented that “being ranked as the city with the worst traffic in Southeast Asia and one of the worst in the world sends a troubling signal to investors and visitors. Traffic jams not only cost us time but also limit our city’s economic potential.
“We want to encourage investors so we can provide jobs to Dabawenyos but it will be difficult to lure businessmen to come here if they learn about the city’s traffic problems. Davao City deserves better. We need a City Hall that prioritizes easing traffic congestion because it’s directly tied to our quality of life and our city’s economic competitiveness,” Nograles said.
He emphasized that efforts must be invested into finding short-term fixes and long-term solutions to the traffic issue.
“We must focus on both short-term relief and long-term solutions. In the short term, optimizing traffic flow with synchronized traffic lights, efficient traffic enforcement, and improved road infrastructure can help reduce congestion. We also need to explore innovative solutions, such as using technology for traffic monitoring and management, and incentivizing carpooling to reduce the number of vehicles on the road,” said Nograles.
The former legislator, who once chaired the House Committee on Appropriations, committed to allocating financial resources to improving traffic management by beefing up the manpower and capacity of its traffic management force. Financial resources would also be mobilized to come up with public transport solutions as well as urban planning initiatives intended to reduce the use of vehicles.
He explained that “public transport is ultimately at the heart of the solution. Developing an affordable, reliable, and efficient mass transit system will not only reduce traffic but also make commuting more sustainable for Dabawenyos. A comprehensive approach to urban planning must be adopted in order to encourage active transportation like cycling and walking. This can be achieved by building dedicated bike lanes and safer pedestrian pathways so we can help reduce vehicle dependency.”
