Integrating our transport system

Last year, I had the experience of riding China’s bullet train from Nanjing to Shanghai. As if the speed and comfort of the hour long ride was not impressive enough, we went off the train in Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station, a modern multi-modal transport terminal the likes of which we have never seen anywhere before.

The station primarily serves as the Shanghai terminus of several high speed rail lines, including the Shanghai–Nanjing High-Speed Railway, the Shanghai–Hangzhou High-Speed Railway, and the Beijing–Shanghai High-Speed Railway, the most important high speed rail line in China. Passengers of the fast trains can easily transfer to Line 2 and Line 10 of Shanghai Metro to the center of the city and points beyond.

Passengers can also have their choice of buses or taxis. And even an airplane ride is just a hop and a skip away through an air-conditioned passage to Terminal 2 of Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, through which it takes about 20 minutes to walk. The terminal is huge… its waiting hall area is more than 10,000 square meters, and is capable of handling 10,000 passengers at the same time.

I don’t know if P-Noy had the chance to see this facility when he was in Shanghai last year but I think he should make a point of seeing it in his next trip. I think DOTC Secretary Mar Roxas should see this too. I am sure it will blow his mind and his imagination so that he can set his goals higher when he implements the latest EO from P-Noy that tasks the DOTC chief to establish what a Palace press release describes as an “integrated transportation system.”

I suspect the goals of EO 67 are rather modest. But even at that, I doubt if it could be established as quickly as Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa said it would be… within P-Noy’s term. I don’t care if Ochoa also said it is P-Noy’s priority. Past administrations failed in this venture. Even the very determined Bayani Fernando failed to get this done. A lackadaisical DOTC under Mar is unlikely to get it done… but I hope I am wrong.

Essentially, what P-Noy’s EO calls for is not as awe inspiring as Shanghai Hongqiao. It merely calls for building a north and a south terminal (for buses) in Metro Manila. The concept was studied in the early 1980s and MMDA’s Bayani Fernando tried to force the issue through an MMDA order, and started site clearing for a northern terminal. The order was TRO-ed by a Court.

The supposed justification for a terminal for provincial buses at Metro Manila’s northern and southern ends was to minimize the impact of provincial buses on the metro area’s chaotic traffic situation. Anyone who has been bothered by big provincial buses going in and out of their terminals in and near Cubao and in Pasay sure wish there was a better way than this.

According to the Palace press release, the project will be implemented under the build-operate-transfer scheme. That presupposes there will be a tempting economic benefit for a proponent to undertake the project, given the large land area required for such an integrated bus terminal. Then again, a group like SM or Ayala can look at it as a property play that feeds traffic to their malls or create markets for their utilitarian sized condo units and may find this interesting.

For now however, I am skeptical that this EO can achieve true integration within the remaining time of the P-Noy administration. Even projects with completed feasibility studies can’t be launched by Mar’s DOTC… what more for an ambitious project being started from scratch?

One expert I contacted reminded me of GMA’s strong republic transport system and the one transport system of Sec Rainerio Reyes during Tita Cory’s time. The intention ended with the press releases. I am afraid EO 67 will be no different.

Mass transport

But we have to credit P-Noy for having the right intention. Indeed, in this era of rising oil prices, an efficient transport system specially in the country’s metro areas is essential if we want to mitigate the impact of international oil price volatility on our economy. Politically, it is also good for P-Noy if government is seen as doing something in response to this never ending oil price increases.

Since we have succeeded in weaning power generation from oil, it is in mass transportation where we are rather vulnerable. Giving discounts to diesel purchases of jeepney drivers is a futile short term measure with no real impact on the largest number of people. Most taxpayers see this as just another government dole-out implemented out of sheer political expediency.

This is why it is important for DOTC to be seen as being on the ball with its projects. There are many things Mar Roxas must prioritize: that BOT project for the NLEX-SLEX connector road; the rehabilitation of MRT; extension of the two LRTs; action of the MRT7 BOT proposal, among others. Improving mass transit that depends on electricity is a way of making our mass transport sector less dependent on imported oil.

Then there is the need to not only provide a seamless connection between Clark and NAIA airports, there is also a need to provide a quick north to south roadway that is above the usual mess at ground level. In this regard, there are two competing BOT proposals for that connector road between NLEX and SLEX. Both promise easing travel from Quezon City to Makati to something as little and unbelievable as six minutes.

So here we are with two competing BOT proposals, one from Citra-San Miguel and the other from Manny Pangilinan’s Metro Pacific group. I understand that Mar has problems with the Metro Pacific proposal because it wants to use the PNR right of way that Mar wants to use for the Clark to Naia fast train.

The PNR right of way also has problems with its air rights which a previous administration sold to raise funds. An elevated connector road as proposed by Metro Pacific cannot be built unless this air rights situation is resolved. 

Citra-San Miguel proposes to use a different route for a six-lane elevated highway from Buendia (now called Gil Puyat Avenue) in Makati to Balintawak in Quezon City through the heart of the metropolis. Citra-San Miguel also promises to cap the toll in this Skyway-style project at P99 for the entire 14-kilometer stretch.

The project is expected to cost P24 billion, which is significantly lower than the P35-billion price tag, including government subsidies, of MVP’s group. They also promised to complete the entire project in 30 months from groundbreaking, well within the administration of P-Noy. This project will help motorists save time, gasoline and frayed nerves given the metro’s traffic situation.

So now government must decide, as quickly as possible what is the most expeditious and cost effective route not just for government but for the eventual users. Hopefully they don’t take up too much time studying and deciding. Maybe P-Noy can light a fire under the behinds of the officials who must pick which of the two competing BOT proposals should be implemented as soon as possible.

Airports

According to CNN, the Indonesian government will not only upgrade the Bali airport but has also slated the construction of a brand new international terminal facility so it could accommodate 20 million passengers by 2013… or at about the same time NAIA 1’s rehab will be done, if we are lucky. I am told that the Locsin architectural firm Mar wants to work on the NAIA rehab has not even been contracted yet.  

Just so our officials know that our regional competitors are not standing still while we study our next moves which are really quite obvious…

Lawyers

This was sent by Jose Villaescusa.

A lawyer was having some extra curricular fun with his secretary inside his car. When he got home, his wife noticed a pair of stockings in the back seat. She picked them up then in front of him, tore them apart while screaming- “So what the hell is this?!”

He calmly replied: “You just destroyed the evidence of a rape case I’m handling, which would probably be worth over a million...you can forget about the jewelry you wanted!”

MORAL of the story: No one wins over a lawyer...not even something called a WIFE!

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco